What To Do If A Loved One Is Diagnosed With A Terminal Illness

A loved one being diagnosed with a terminal illness is everybody’s worst nightmare but it’s a fact of life that we sometimes have to face. It’s such a difficult situation to be in and it’s going to be incredibly hard on you, but your priority needs to be making sure that your loved one is comfortable and the rest of the family are OK, especially if you’ve got young children. When you first get the news, you probably won’t know what to do. Trying to come to terms with such devastating news while you’re also trying to sort out all of the other arrangements is incredibly stressful and emotionally draining but you can make the transition a little easier if you do things right. If you find out that one of your parents has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, here’s how you can deal with it.

Where Should They Live?

This is the first question you need to answer. When their condition starts to get worse, they’ll need somebody to care for them and make sure that they are comfortable. They might be able to stay in their own home for a while but eventually, they won’t be well enough to care for themselves. Now you need to decide whether to move them in with you or whether they would be better off in a care facility where there are professional caregivers on hand at all hours of the day. If you’ve got a very busy home life with a big family, that might be an overwhelming situation for them. But if you’ve got somebody in the house all day already, you can be safe in the knowledge that they’ll always be looked after.

If you are going to move them into your house, you can look after them to start with. But later on, they’re going to need professional care that you just can’t provide for them. You’ll need to call in hospice care services to make sure that they’re not in too much pain and they have everything they need. Make sure you start making those arrangements sooner rather than later.

Dealing With Denial

Denial is a big problem in these situations and it only makes things worse. Nobody wants to accept that they’re going to lose a loved one but if you deny it for too long, it’ll only make it harder in the long run. You need to start coming to terms with it now so you’re prepared when you do eventually lose them.

Talking To The Children

Trying to explain the situation to any young children in the family is always so hard, but it’s necessary. If they are kept in the dark, they’ll find it so much harder to deal with. You need to explain the situation to them early on and make sure that they know they can always talk to you about it if they need to. Giving them more time to understand the situation will make it a lot easier for them.