Re: Simon stopping chemo and does not have long

[Wheezercat42]

It's normal to want to do everything humanly possible to save a life, and that's important. Doing everything humanely possible to ease suffering is much more important, and sometimes, when the treatment is worse than the disease, and the disease is beyond any chance of a cure, that means letting go. Knowing when to let go is the most important thing of all. Give them every good day they have coming, but know when that last good day has been spent.    Simon will let you know when he's ready to go - or, if he's like Legolas was, his body will tell you when it's time to say your goodbyes.  Legolas didn't want to go (his attitude was always "I looked for you my whole life, now that I've finally found you, I'm not going anywhere"), but he was hurting too much to make him stay until his body gave out.  I agonized over whether he was ready to go or not since last spring.  On 12/28, his physical condition left no doubt that it was time.    I met the woman who wrote this recently.  She worked for the hospice I work for back when the inpatient unit consisted of 8 beds on one hall of a local hospital (we have 2 buildings now, our current census is 571 and we have over 500 employees - back then, there were about 10 employees and about 15 -20 people in the hospice system).  She wrote this the day after she was with a woman who was dying of liver cancer who asked her if it was okay to let go.  She seemed to be in a similar condition as Simon.  I hope you can find some comfort in this.    MAY I GO? May I go now? Do you think the time is right? May I say goodbye to pain filled days? And endless lonely nights? Iâve lived my life and done my best, an example tried to be. So can I take that step beyond and set my spirit free? I didn't want to go at first I fought with all my might but something seems to draw me now to a warm and living light I want to go I really do itâs difficult to stay but I will try as best I can to live just one more day. To give you time to care for me and share your love and fears I know your sad and afraid because I see your tears I'll not be far, I promise that, and hope you'll always know that my spirit will be close to you wherever you may go thank you so for loving me you know I love you too that why its hard to say goodbye and end this life with you so hold me now just one more time and let me hear you say because you care so much for me you'll let me go today âSusan  A. Jacksonâ       Kathy "Every time you meet a situation, though you think at the time it is an impossibility and you go through the tortures of the damned, once you have met it and lived through it, you find that forever after you are freer than you were before." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt