Pearl Beadle, my Mum, passed away peacefully yesterday morning, April 2nd 2008. She was surrounded by the love of her family during the last week. Many of the family were at her bedside when she left this life at 9.40 am.
What can I say? Her passing came as no shock, given the events of the past ten days. Mum suffered a second stroke on Easter Monday, this time affecting the left side of her brain. Combined with the stroke she had suffered to the right side in December 2006, her chances of recovery were low. The doctors gave us three options: all-out treatment; see-how-it-goes treatment; or let her go. We had to ask ourselves “would Mum value the quality of life she would have?” The answer, sadly, was “no” and we opted to let Mum go in as peaceful and a dignified way as possible.
For stroke patients whose relatives have opted in this way, the average time from withdrawal of fluids to death is ten days. The doctors and nursing staff didn’t think that Mum would last past the weekend; in the end she lived on for a week. Despite the damage to her brain, her body was strong and she continued to display the guts and determination that had led her to learn to speak and walk again, albeit only short distances and with the aid of my Dad and a stick, after her first stroke. She was unconscious for much of the time but responded, when awake, with noises and facial movements.
We did as much as we could to make Mum’s last days as comfortable as possible. She isn’t disabled anymore; she has gone to a better place where there is no more crying, no more illness, no more disability, no more sadness and no more death.
Mum is singing now; her beautiful voice is praising God in heaven and will do so for ever.
I love you, Mum. I miss you, but I’ll remember with fondness all the special times we’ve had together, and I’m especially glad you got to meet little Abigail. Thanks for being my Mum.
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