If you have followed me, you know my story….I am a Brain Cancer Survivor! I was diagnosed with Central Nervous Lymphoma in November 2014. The diagnosis plunged me into an incredible journey, which I am grateful to have survived. What I learned is that when you are faced with a complex or catastrophic illness or injury, you are forced to face your mortality, and that is an eye-opening experience as most of us take our life for granted.

Over the past few weeks, I have been spending a good amount of time with a friend who has stage four metastatic breast cancer that is progressing rapidly. I went to her doctor’s appointment yesterday, where she shared with her doctor the challenges she is having with fluid retention, shortness of breath, weakness, and other issues that come with this stage of her cancer.

The doctor was very empathetic. She shared her concerns about what was happening and ordered a new diuretic to help remove the fluid and paracentesis of her abdomen to relieve the ascites. In the end, she said the treatment she ordered would help her be more comfortable but would not change the course she is on with her cancer.

After we left, we went back to my friend’s home. She was able to eat some lunch. We talked about where she was physically, mentally, and emotionally. She realizes she is dying. I acknowledged this and asked her if she had her affairs in order. She said she does.

We talked about her Celebration of Life. My friend is a prolific writer and speaker, and I know she wants things done a certain way. I said I would help her create a plan for the event so it would be how she wanted it.

A recent saying reminded me, “We live every day, but we only die once.” This reinforces that we all need to prepare for death – even in good health.

Let’s all commit to writing down what we want to happen as we live so that when our work is done here on earth, we leave with peace of mind.

Pre-planning will help ensure the care we want is in place. Planning your celebration of life allows friends and family to say goodbye the way you want to be remembered. Having your affairs in order will also help your family cope with your passing and know they did everything you planned. This is empowering and gives you the peace of mind to know your work is done.

Thank you for reading this week’s post. Please say a prayer for my friend…..Have a good week.