Finding the Courage to Communicate


Story #5: Finding the Courage to Communicate [1]

This is one story in a series of 15 on End of Life.

It was late afternoon on Christmas Eve, and my husband, Lyttle, and I were at the leukaemia clinic for his checkup. The doctor examined the recent swelling in Lyttle’s leg and frowned, “It looks like a new blood clot is forming in your left leg,” he said. “This is very dangerous. If you are walking around, part of it could break off and destroy your lung or heart. I want to have you admitted to the hospital today.”

This was a devastating blow. Lyttle hated being in the hospital. Since his diagnosis in late August, he had been hospitalised for three weeks in every four, dealing with with one life-threatening crisis after another.

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[1] Extracts from Facing Death and Finding Hope:
A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying By Christine Longaker, Broadway Books, New York 2001, 262 pp