“…And in the end it is not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.“ – Abraham Lincoln

Suffering from a terminal illness is one of the most difficult phases of life a person can go through. This blog is a tribute to all the terminally ill persons in every nook and corner of the globe. This blog is dedicated to every care-taker and healthcare practitioner working in the field of terminal pathology. Here we will learn about some of the brave warriors of terminal illness, the way they achieved milestones after milestones and how they etched their names as immortal in the eternal chapters of life…

Parkinson’s disease

Mr A was a Civil Engineer. He was super talented, intelligent, honest and the most trustworthy officer at his workplace. He was the apple of the eyes of everyone in his family and his colleagues also looked up to him for almost everything. In short, he was a true gentleman in its pure sense. Let me take the opportunity to mention that Mr A was a sportsperson too. He played Cricket at the State Level Championship has been ornamented with many laurels in the field. He was 42 years old when suddenly his right hand started shaking. He was misdiagnosed with Writer’s cramp first and took treatment for it.

Since it was a misdiagnosis he did not recover from it. It was actually the beginning of Parkinson’s disease. At this juncture, it’s been more than a decade, Mr A has been suffering from Parkinson’s with Dystonia. He cannot function properly when it comes to daily life living, but he has not lost the battle yet. He does his office work from home, he inspires others through his writings, and he maintains an active social life. There was a stage when he was fully withdrawn and socially isolated. But, with the help of counselling and professional help he has flipped back into full momentum again.

Life was never easy for Mr A. Parkinson’s disease changed his life for a lifetime. But, even with the odds and challenges he is trying every bit and in every new sunshine to live life to its fullest and meaningfully in his own special ways.

Leukaemia

M is a 6 years old child who was diagnosed with Leukaemia when she was very young. Even at this small age she knows that her days will end soon. It is heart-trenching to see her laying on the hospital bed for the therapies, blood transfusions and other procedures. The lil’ angelic girl hugs me every time I pay a visit to her. Even with her illness, she is full of life. She is a classical singer and likes singing a lot. She says she would like to sing as many songs she can before she breathes her last. Her songs are really wonderful and take the listeners to the other world altogether.

These chunks of experiences may not soothe your pains and sufferings, but they are different massive battles that terminally ill patients are fighting every dawn to dusk. It is not easy to live when you know that your days are numbered. But, these inspiring hearts have altered the definition of physical death. Mr A always tells me that “dying is merely the dead-end of the physical earthly body. What matters most is how you lived on earth rather than how you died on it. People will always remember you through the way you lived, and not by the way you died. Dying and suffering are just a natural course of life. We need to accept it and live life in the best way we can.“ These are his soulful words!!!

Life does not end with a terminal illness, it is the threshold of a new beginning of how life can be lived to its fullest with it… I had read somewhere and I want to share it with you: “When life shows you a hundred reasons to cry, just fight back and show life that you have a million reasons to smile“

Learn more here: An Introduction to Terminal Illness »

All the best,

Sareeta