Coping with Loss of Wife,Best Friend and Soul Mate

Hi, 

I have been with my beautiful wife for 30 years, and we have 3 beautiful teenage daughters.

My wife has been fighting breast cancer since 2009, with numerous Chemotherapies, natural rememdies, surgery and radiotheraphy - after 4/5 years she was in reammission, and then 9 months later in 2015 it came back harder and faster - she has daily lung drains, and was put on various chemotheraphy drugs and in April 2017 she was deemed stage 4 as it had spread to her spine, liver, kidney, both breasts, neck etc - We thought the worse.

I took 9 months off from work to care for my wife, and in that time I studied Chemotherapy treatments, wrote to Pharmecetical firms, and went through weekly blood results in order to do anything I could to save my beloved wifes life.

With my research I was also able to push the Oncologists and talk to them on a 1-2-1 level (even my wife said it was like 2 Oncologists where in the room !) - and I was the one who discovered why my wife had rejected the Chemotherapy in the first place due to her Albumin levels where very low.

Armed with Blood results every week, checking white cells, B12, Albumin I was able to tailor my wifes diet and she was able to have the chemotheraphy week on week.

Working together we managed to keep her alive for another 9 months, however sadly it caught up with her and she died in December 2017 just after Christmas.

Althought this is still very raw, I miss her every day, and have 3-4 breakdowns a day, constant crying, longing, and yearning for my wife - I wear her perfume and jewellery and still sleep with her dressing gown and have kept the house exactly as she left it so ther are no changes "when she returns home"

In 30 years we were together, we were only away from each other for 2 weeks, and we were more than Husband and Wife, she was my soul mate, best friend, we were a unit, we held hands, told each other we loved each other everyday, and I wanted no one else - she was my everything and the only thing in my life I was ever afraid of losing.

I still cry in pain that this could happen to someone so beautiful, and I have had the phases of grief doubt, and anger.

I hate the cliches, "be strong for the children" but how can I when I am not strong for myself, and the girls are teenagers, they are in their rooms talking to their friends, or boyfriends, and I am left on my own - the girls will grow up and I will walk the rest of my time on this earth without my beloved.

I particularly like the "it will get better after the funeral" this I can tell you is ********* ! it has got worse - I have more crying breakdowns, even when I go to places that me and my wife visited I hyper ventilate and freeze on the spot.

Yes I have couselling, but everyday the pain intesifies as does the emptiness and hollowness inside.

I am told I did all I could for my beautiful wife, and I would give everything I own just to have her back with me again.

I wanted to share my story, with others and I read a statistic once that said "75 men a day under the age of 50 are made widowers" and now I am in that statistic.

I am finding it hard to cope everyday, and it feels like my head is caving in with all the tears and emotions - I assume I am not alone

Simon 

  • Hello Colin.... Please dont reproached yourself.... It was cancer that took your lovely wife not you. I lost my husband 6 months ago. I feel no guilt only pain, pain and more pain being without him. Days and nights are long and I would give everything to have him back. As weeks and months pass the apin gets worse.

    Take care Colin. Its OK to grieve but not to feel guilt.

    Love Gillie

  • Hi Gillie. It's 18 months since my wife died and it has devastated me, as we were with each other for 46 years. After my wife died, I was attending a Clan walk in centre which deals with people who are affected by this horrendous disease for 16 months. I then had a complete breakdown in the doctors a couple of months ago and now I'm attending mental health and on tablets. 

    So I can't tell you it gets easier, and do not listen to folk who will tell you it was for the best, or you'll get "" better"", whatever that means. However, I can only hope it does become easier for you. It will seem just like yesterday for you and I'm very sorry for the loss of your loving husband. 

    Those you love can never be replaced.

    Love Gordon.

     

  • Thank you Gordon.  I spent the happiest 43 years with my lovely man. We had the happiest of marriage. I think this emmense pain and grief is the penalty for loving someone so very much. I will miss my man until I can meet up with him again. Hope you are finding a way to move onwards without your wife. It is not easy but we owe it to them to try. They are watching and will only want us to try and be happy.

    Take care and keep in touch x

     

  • Hello Kirsty... I too listen for the door and my late husband's footfall. I even switch my mobile on hoping there is a loving message from him. I know I am being silly. He is gone, but I can always hope for a miricle. The pain I am suffering doesnt go away and the longing I have to be held again is really awful. I am trying to move on but at present I am in a black hole. Because I know he would want me to, I shall dig myself out one day.  Good luck to you Kirsty. Keep smiling

    Love Gillie

  • Simon I lost my wife five months ago. I’m 38 we were together 17 years and got married in 2011. She was diagnosed on the 11th October 2018 and passed on the 6th March 2019. Six months of watching someone who had never abused their body completely fall to pieces. I cared for her every day and the days spent in hospital I has by her side. We did it alone, she couldn’t face people we knew seeing her demise so I had to grit my teeth and give her my best. She truly understood how much I loved her by how she was cared for, night and day. 

    I am completely broken. I face people no problem and I know I present as the strong individual they think I am. I sit in our home, the home we worked so hard to own, i look around and everything but her is here. Pictures of her riding her horse consume the room.  I don’t even know who I am anymore. The help people offer is non existent and who else is In my situation to talk to so I literally live with something nobody understands.  

    Im thinking of just selling our home and moving down south where nobody knows me and I can get on with this disaster. You will know who you’re friends and family are now. I am truly sorry for you’re loss, I’m living the same bad dream. 

  • Hello ba01,

    I fully understand what you are feeling at the moment. There isn't any real help out there and you probably are having to take all this on your own, or it feels that way. It is so devastating trying to cope and it is hard to think of life in the future. I am in a similar situation and wife died in June 2018. It is a feeling like that you have ever felt before or imagined.

    I hope you can somehow get through this grief a day at a time even though you might not feel this at this time. I know exactly what you mean about looking at pictures around your house, you want to look at them but you know it's going to upset you. I can't really give you any advice because I am in the same position. I always say to myself that Lesley wouldn't want me to be constantly upset. 

    I know it's easy said than done but try and get through this and remember that the pain you feel is the love you had for wife. Take care and try and stay strong.

  • I've been lucky and had good people around me. I'd hate to think someone is alone and has no one to talk to. Quite happy to talk. AL

  • So sorry for loss  I feel the same lost my Penny ️ to met Breast Cancer on 6th November 2019 just 3weeks after being diagnosed. Penny ️ was being treated by GP for Sciatica for a due months before. This after last Christmas I was diagnosed with Prostate cancer had Radiotherapy in June/July . It feels like there is no point in living anymore we where married for 48 wonderful years  Penny ️ helped me without knowing her own condition . It feels like I didn't help her.  Just cry every day miss her so much I feel grief anger and totally lost  just want to lay in bed hoping I will feel her by my side just asking myself how this has happened Penny ️ was 67 Years old when she passed away. I thought we would have had a good ten years more together. Her mum was 88 when she passed away. That was 17 years ago. Her anniversary was just after  Penny ️ passing away .  Her dad was only 69 when he passed away. Penny ️ always said she would not live as long as her dad I always said don't be silly  Peñny ️ was right .  Life has become unbearable I never see anybody just don't what to be here anymore   

  • You describe an accurate picture Simon of how I feel, except for this terrible feeling of sickness that inevitably comes with the crying. I try to shake myself out of this depressive state and it works for a time then something happens or is said that trigures the total emptiness inside me, the tears fall and well I am sure you know the rest.

    I like you was married to Jill for 30 years, we never had children but we did have a Horse called Solo. Jill would ride him everywhere and discover the countryside around us then I would join her in the summer and share a picnic or two and a pint of ale. Those memories are what keep me sane I hope you find them too. I sometimes think perhaps we should have had some seperation in the interests we shared but then perhaps we found something in our relationship that others strive for and never find.

    They say "try to begin your life again, its what your wife would want". I tried that, found a female friend and I opened up my heart to her, making sure that she understood my love for Jill still existed. We have been together for 6 months but at Christmas I noticed a change in her attitude to me, more distant and now I worry about if I have upset her in some way. I really tried to make her happy as she lost her husband 3 years ago to Pancreatic Cancer. Vicky has four daughters all in their late 20's and all with boyfriends. I seemed to have been accepted by them.

    Here's the hardest part as tomorrow evening Vicky and I are meeting up for coffee to discuss our future relationship. I am dreading loosing her. It will be like another death and I am not sure my mental state can take that. Like the famous song by Neil Sedaka "Breaking up is very hard to do" its worth a listen on U tube first released in 1962. My point here is whatever happens now Simon we have to give life a try, you and I that is.

    It helps writing this down but it still makes you cry. Take care now and obviously as you can see you are not alone.

    Pip (Soloandme)

     

     

  • Beautifu thatyou shared poem l sorry for your loss. 
    I lost my husband 20th Oct aged 56 my Geordie giant, to gliomablastoma multiform grade 4 aggressive brain tumour , diagnosed in Oct 18 devastated lost living in a fog and it's so painful youngest son age 12 struggling with coping has additional needs ,  I feel life is hopeless and deep sadness anger