well all I can say is it is true and not much different if he had died at home when we were asleep in bed. But the way Rob was treated in the last days was so much better for the patient and their family because they could live a near normal life in the last stages. It was a specialist cancer wing of a university hospital which was designed for advanced pallative care and as a hospice to allow families to stay with their loved ones in their last days. There were husbands staying with their wives, wives with their husbands, parents with their kids, kids with their parents. As Robs boyfriend I stayed with him for the last 3 days before that Robs Parents stayed with him. That way the patients got 24 hour care and the privacy and dignity they needed but also had all the resources of the hospital when they needed it. They do the same thing with pregnant woman, when they give birth the husband can stay with them in a special suite so the family is not split up. Bone cancer is very painfull and those who stayed with their loved ones were often involved in managing the pain and their general care if they wanted to be. Rob was in pain but it was managed very well, he chose how his pain was to be managed, he didn't want to be totally out of it on morphine all day so he mostly had oral morphine when it got really bad. But Rob never complained about the pain, Rob never complained about anything actually. This took the pressure off the nursing staff but also didn't take away the families involvement in their loved ones care. I was told by Rob's consultant that he didn't have long and we were to behave as normally as we could and treat the place as our home and not be afraid to talk about his inevitable death together. Our normall life included lots of sex and although he had bouts of bad pain I was always amazed that he would get a hard on, we couldn't do much apart from cuddling in the end but he still enjoyed a blow job (he always was a randy little bugger) The hospital staff would be there when we need them just as if we were in our own home.
Robs cancer had spread almost everywhere but the most serious point was it had metastasised to his brain stem which controlls all the autonomic functions of the body such as breathing, so I was warned that it wouldn't be long and drawn out and that he would just stop breathing probably in his sleep and I wasn't to panic or worry about this. Rob wasn't connected to any monitors or devices so nobody knew he had died untill I called the reception to tell them. In the counselling sessions the hospital provided we were told all that was going to happen so that we were informed and prepared and encouraged to say goodbye in our own time when the time came. It was just coincidence that we were doing what came naturally when he he died, he stopped breathing. It was like a switch was turned off he seemed to panic for a second or 2 but I was there holding him and that calmed him, it all seemed to happen in a moment. I didn't realise what was going on at first but I soon did. My first reaction was to rush out and call someone but we had talked about what I should do when the time came and Rob wanted me to be there with him he didn't want me to leave him or to be resuscitated and be brought back he wanted me there. So I didn't do anything I just stayed where I was with him, holding him, more because I was in shock and didn't want to really admit he had gone. And I knew once I told them he had died he'd stop being my boyfriend they'd take him away and that would be the end. I didn't want to let him go. I honestly don't know how long it was till I went to reception 40 minutes, half an hour. 15 minutes, an hour I don't even know what time it was when he died. I know I phoned his mum and dad at 5.30 am from reception.
I've never told anyone this and to be honest I really don't give a shit if anyone believes it or not because this is a fairly anonomous forum and its done me good just to write it down and in an odd way knowing that other people know about it too takes a burden off me cos I couldn't tell anyone in my circle of friends and family. I've not talked about this for 4 years not even in grief counselling not even to my present boyfriend. So even if you believe me or not I'm gratefull to Meat for providing this little place where I could talk about it and the rest of the members who read it and won't judge me cos its such a relief to get it out.