Traumatized by seeing your loved one die in front of you

Hi,

So, I have seen my mother pass away in front of my eyes on 23rd June at 1.50 AM at the hospice.

She had been in a semi state for almost 11 days. 3 days before she died I tried to have a last conversation with her as she was going into coma. While I was taking my goodbyes she was moaning like a crying sound and was agitated- moving her arms up and legs while her eyes were closed as she could no longer open her eyes.

I gave up on finishing my goodbye as I was trying to calm her down.

Then on the last day she got the death rattle, so I decided to stay over the night. I was by myself and terrified of what was coming as my mother has been everything for me( I am 30, she was 56). 4-5 hours before dying, she started suffocating in front of me and her body was in convulsions,her chest going up and down on the bed.I quickly called the night nurse who gave her Morphine to allow her breathing to relax. 10 minutes later she started having a 2nd episode so I called the nurse again. My mother was barely breathing and tears were coming down her cheeks. While giving her more Morphine, even the nurse was tearing at her sight. I was terrified this will happen every 10 minutes but fortunately she was okay for almost 3 and a half hours. Her breathing started to change in a more rapid state then, and I called the nurse so we can administer the morphine before another suffocation episode.The moment she got there with the injection she stopped and said 'She's going'. I looked at my mother and she was trying to open her eyes a bit while again tearing down and moaning.It took 5 minutes of me calming her down until she died in my arms. I was terrified and thought that the dying is a lot more peaceful than that , but to my surpise it was soooo hard to witness. Now I can't stop re playing those last images out of my mind. How do people cope with that? I keep on question if she was in pain, why was she crying , did she hear me,did it hurt when she was suffocating, what was she thinking?

Parents
  • Hi, I have just seen your post and can't tell you how similar this is to my experience of losing my Mom to cancer.

    I am traumatised by her final moments, more so than the grief of living without her at the moment and feel like I just had no idea that death could be this disturbing? I thought it was peaceful. I hear the sounds of her death rattle and see the tear too that rolled down my mother's face. 
    Have you found comfort in anything?

    I'm so sorry my reply is not one of any support or suggestion but I thank you for sharing your experience as it's made me feel less alone in my thoughts.

Reply
  • Hi, I have just seen your post and can't tell you how similar this is to my experience of losing my Mom to cancer.

    I am traumatised by her final moments, more so than the grief of living without her at the moment and feel like I just had no idea that death could be this disturbing? I thought it was peaceful. I hear the sounds of her death rattle and see the tear too that rolled down my mother's face. 
    Have you found comfort in anything?

    I'm so sorry my reply is not one of any support or suggestion but I thank you for sharing your experience as it's made me feel less alone in my thoughts.

Children
  • Hi everyone,

    Apologies for not replying here for a long time.It has been 6 months since she has died and I kind of stopped looking at these forums since ,as I needed to recover and try to carry on.

    I can say that with time it gets better.I am not sure if it is my own mind trying to protect me and blocking some memories or if the moment itself is not as freshly imprinted on my mind.

    I still have nightmares and I still remember certain moments which marked me,and which will probably be there until my end,however, I found comfort in trying to enjoy life more.It is hard, but possible.I know my mother would have never wanted me to close myself down and stop living so I keep on pushing.

    I also found some relief in reading about NED experiences, as I do hope she is in a better place now where she can no longer feel pain and hopefully watch over me.

     

    BE strong !

     

    Diana