Handling the Diagnosis of a Terminal Illness

Preplanning funerals at funeral homes in Burtonsville, MD will be one of the things you will need to do when you’ve been diagnosed with a terminal illness. It will not be the first thing on your list in the days after your diagnosis, but you should do it before your illness renders you unable to.

You have received the bad news from the doctor: you have a terminal illness. You have been given an average range of time, from weeks to months to years, that you can expect to live. Your first reaction may be shocked, especially if you haven’t been experiencing any severe health issues or you’ve only experienced sporadic seemingly minor health problems.

In the early days after the diagnosis of your terminal illness, you and your family should first comfort and support each other as you all accept the reality that you have an illness that you will die from. This is an important step in preparing for the best life you can have in the time that you have left.

Within the week, your entire family should get together and talk about your prognosis, talk about the time you have left, and help make plans for your care as your terminal illness progresses.

The first thing you and your family should do is educate yourself about your terminal illness. Most terminal illnesses have stages and symptoms that can be expected, as does dying and death itself.

By knowing what to expect, even if you don’t have an exact timeline, in the progression of your terminal illness, you can make plans to address each step of the process.

For instance, you may still be fairly asymptomatic at this stage in your terminal illness. You may still be able to work, to drive, and to do your normal activities. However, the time will come when you won’t be able to work, you won’t be able to drive, and you may be very limited in what activities you can do.

Now is the time to prepare for that. Some people with terminal illnesses choose to stop working immediately after their diagnosis so they can spend as much time as possible with their loved ones. Other people choose to work until they are no longer able to because their work sustains them. You need to decide which course of action works best for you.

You need to plan for the time when you can’t drive. Who will drive you to doctor’s appointments? Who will make sure you get your medications? Who will take care of groceries? There are many limitations we don’t think about that suddenly become an issue when we can’t drive. Those need to be discussed and answered.

Another thing that you should decide as quickly as possible is whether you want hospice care during your terminal illness. If you choose hospice care, then you have a wealth of support for both you and your family that enables you to stay at home and die surrounded by the things and the people that you take comfort in and that you love.

Getting hospice care during your terminal illness will also ensure that your family has the support and the medical guidance they need to help with your care.

Among the many things, you should plan for after the diagnosis of a terminal illness is your funeral. Talk about what you want with your family so that you all know what should be done for you when you die.

If you’d like to know more about preplanning funerals at funeral homes in Burtonsville, MD, you can talk with our knowledgeable team at Donald V. Borgwardt Funeral Home, P.A.