Your Dying Spouse 318 - Pain, Glory, and Rugby {FMF}

Oh, how I wish I could banish the pain!

Well, not really.

(We're here with Five Minute Friday, and as usual I have to write ahead of the keyword reveal, but I'll include the word if I can...later.) (It's FUTURE, and I worked it in.)

Where was I? Oh, yes. Masochism. Bring the pain, I love it.

Well, not really that, either.

It's severe enough now (and coupled with fatigue) to keep me flat to the floor for long hours. Getting up to write and comment is becoming difficult. Sitting up to watch a DVD is difficult.

It's a 'nasty' pain, like an infection, or a very bad bruise, not a nicely satisfying discomfort like you get from exercise...the 'feel the burn' thing so beloved of Nike and Reebok commercials. (Oh, you think that's baloney, too?)

Anyway, pain hurts, and the conventional wisdom is that we should do what we can to alleviate it. But I don't want to.

Not because it's fun, but because it's leading me to understand something. I have to work my mind around a mass of pain that is both solid and dynamic; I can't escape it, but I can train my body and mind to react in a way that allows me to keep functioning (sort of), and to keep thinking clearly (mostly).

And I can identify, just a bit, with the Saviour who endured agony for me. For me, personally.

That is the main thing pain has taught, and I stand in deep gratitude, even though pain is my future.

For salvation by Jesus' paying my debt of sin - inherited and gleefully practiced by yours truly in his worse moments - that atonement can be nothing else but personal, because I'm not 'one of the mass'. There's no connexion between me and any other person, that links us in some kind of Vulcan mind-meld.

I'm an individual - and I own my sin, and Jesus' owns the payment of my debt.

And He chose to own the pain that went with it.

So I want to own this pain. Not to think I'm evening the score, but to gain some appreciation that the scourging and the walk up the Via Dolorosa and the Crucifixion were made all the harder, because He was carrying me on His back.

And how does rugby come into all this?

Well, I figure that Jesus plays rugby, and when I get to Heaven, I'm thinking I'm gonna find out just how hard the dude tackles.

It's going to be fun.

And it's gonna hurt.

The good kind of pain!

 (All of the above is quite aside from the fact that every pain med I've tried had side-effects that were eventually worse than the pain itself.)

And for some reason, I think the best musical accompaniment is Kenny Chesney's Young. What do you think?

Still hoping to get the new and improved version of Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart up and running in the near future. Just haven't had the energy to do it yet...but if you would like to read it, please say so in your comment and I'd be glad to send you a PDF (which should fit your Kindle).

I have another blog, "Starting The Day With Grace". The focus is a grace quote from someone you might not expect (like, say Mick Jagger) and a short commentary. I hope you'll join me.

Marley update... been moved to a sanctuary, and Bay County will revise their 'dangerous dog' codes.

WE MADE A DIFFERENCE!

And marley has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.

If you can, please do leave a comment. I am trying to answer all, and I am failing, but please know this - I read and treasure each one.

Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.

Your Dying Spouse 317 - Lessons From The Floor

I spend a lot of time on the floor these days.

For one thing, when you're already there, there's not so far to fall.

For another thing, my body's used to finding rest in field-expedient situations, using what's there for comfort. A bandolier makes a decent pillow, did you know?

And there's a lot to be learned when you have nowhere to look but up.

Like, looking at dogs. We usually look down at them, but when you look up at their concerned, loving faces, you see not only a seriousness that wasn't there before, but a wrinkly-jawed wisdom.

Sylvia is kind of like Gandalf.

And a two-liter bottle of soda looks plenty tall, and plenty full. A symbol of blessing and plenty.

And when up is the only direction, you realize that God isn't found in the whipped-up mountaintop Halleluiah! moments.

Those moments are fine, but it's more our enthusiasm than the Almighty.

God is present, and has to be most present when our eye-line is limited to a few inches. That's when we know, as we struggle and fail to rise, that we need to reach out. Need to reach up.

In the silent moments of prostration, when you're face to face with the dust-bunnies under the couch (theoretical, here; not Barbara's couch), you know that you're not, and never were, anything like God's equal. Sometimes I think we get sneaky-thoughts that we are, you know, that New-Age vibe. But not from the floor.

When you can't get to your feet, faith, like a loyal service dog, becomes your giant.

Sorry it's a short post. Too ill, and today to weak to say more. I hope this was enough.

Nothing else would do for a musical theme but Garth Brooks' Friends In Low Places.

We're linked with Messy Marriage's From Messes To Messages - please visit for great marruage resources!

Still hoping to get the new and improved version of Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart up and running in the near future. Just haven't had the energy to do it yet...but if you would like to read it, please say so in your comment and I'd be glad to send you a PDF (which should fit your Kindle).

I have another blog, "Starting The Day With Grace". The focus is a grace quote from someone you might not expect (like, say Mick Jagger) and a short commentary. I hope you'll join me.

Marley update... been moved to a sanctuary, and Bay County will revise their 'dangerous dog' codes.

WE MADE A DIFFERENCE!

And marley has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.

If you can, please do leave a comment. I am trying to answer all, and I am failing, but please know this - I read and treasure each one.

Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.

Your Dying Spouse 316 - Five Vital Words

If you're caregiver to a terminally ill husband or wife, there are five words that I guarantee you, that individual needs to hear.

"We just won the lottery!"

Uh, no. Not those. But they would be nice.

The Five Vital Words are these:

I'd do it all again.

Your husband or wife, in his or her illness, feels like a burden; no question. The things that person could do that now have to be handed over to you, the endless requests that have to be made...and above all the soul-shredding nearness of death.

The late Kara Tippets wrote in a very moving blog post that she wished she could be concerned with the trivial again, that the constant round of fighting for survival wore her out.

Same with your mate.

And he or she knows that it's wearing you out, too.

So you've got to say it, if it's true, that the journey you've taken with this special person was worth it, with no exceptions.

That you'd do it again, even knowing the future.

Because believe me, your spouse needs to hear that, more than anything.

Even more than winning the lottery.

And you know what? Even if no one's circling the drain, you both need to hear those words!

The musical theme is from one of my favourite groups, ELO, with Shine A Little Love:

Still hoping to get the new and improved version of Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart up and running in the near future. Just haven't had the energy to do it yet...but if you would like to read it, please say so in your comment and I'd be glad to send you a PDF (which should fit your Kindle).

I have another blog, "Starting The Day With Grace". The focus is a grace quote from someone you might not expect (like, say Mick Jagger) and a short commentary. I hope you'll join me.

Marley update... been moved to a sanctuary, and Bay County will revise their 'dangerous dog' codes.

WE MADE A DIFFERENCE!

And marley has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.

If you can, please do leave a comment. I am trying to answer all, and I am failing, but please know this - I read and treasure each one.

Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.

Your Dying Spouse 315 - Victory {FMF}

I don't have to play the lottery. I've already won.

Every step I take, every time I rise, every push forward against that solid wall of pain, and through the putrid mud of despair, is a stick in Satan's eye.

We're with Five Minute Friday, and I wrote this ahead of time...if I can, I will work in the keyword when it's revealed.)

(The word is VISIT. It's down there.)

It took me awhile to realize this; So much has felt like defeat, or, at best, a call to brittle and hopeless bravado in the face of hopeless odds.

But it just depends on how you look at it. Sure, my career is ruined, and I doubt I'll ever finish my writing projects, much less have the energy to even make them available of Kindle. Trying to find an agent is so far out of view now...and it would be unfair to any agent who thought to take a chance on me, if lightning struck. Can't pursue hobbies even to a small degree any more, and even reading is getting tough. I re-read a lot, because it's like visiting with an old friend, and things come back to me, and I can keep continuity.

All this is true. But look at the opportunities I have! I can set myself a challenge with every moment, to get to my feet without my legs buckling.

I can do a load of laundry, and even though the effort leaves me gasping (and it takes forever to load and unload the washer ad dryer), I can see how far I can push myself, bracing shaking knees and a spear-struck midsection to finish the task.

I can contemplate God's goodness in allowing me to see the triumphs here. And these are not small victories. Me-then would not have been up to the challenge.

As I have weakened, my strength has grown.

As hope fades, I am brim-full of hope, without a drop of despair slipping from the mug.

I can step out under the open sky, under the bright blue vault of the burning day or the velvet star-crowded night, and raise my arms in gratitude for this place, God's Own hospice for me. Every "Thank You!" I send up is a win.

My body is wracked by pain and nausea, but my heart leaps, and I can taste God's manna, the blessings of friends and family and love and laughter with which He's surrounded me.

As the prospect of future years dims, the brightness of the moment is so intense that I've gotta wear shades.

Death visits, but Life has come to stay.

Victory is sweet, and I savour it every hour, and every moment.

The musical theme is from the recent film "The Walk", about Philippe Petit's high-wire walk between the towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.

Still hoping to get the new and improved version of Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart up and running in the near future. Just haven't had the energy to do it yet...but if you would like to read it, please say so in your comment and I'd be glad to send you a PDF (which should fit your Kindle).

I have another blog, "Starting The Day With Grace". The focus is a grace quote from someone you might not expect (like, say Mick Jagger) and a short commentary. I hope you'll join me.

Marley update... been moved to a sanctuary, and Bay County will revise their 'dangerous dog' codes.

WE MADE A DIFFERENCE!

And marley has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.

If you can, please do leave a comment. I am trying to answer all, and I am failing, but please know this - I read and treasure each one.

Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.

Your Dying Spouse 314 - Milestones

I'm still in pretty poor shape (as if I'll get better!) and so this post will again be shorter than I would prefer.

But thi is a milestone, of sorts, that my usual writing output has declined. It's just too physically painful, too tiring, and I have not the concentration I had before.

This does point out a reality in the shared lives of patient and caregiving spouse - that there are milestones that mark a deteriorating situation, and may need to be handled with some delicacy.

Some of these are:

• Leaving the workforce - at some point the patient will be too ill to work, and this can have a huge impact on self image, especially if he or she was the primary breadwinner. It can also have a financial impact in terms of lost income, and lost employer-supplied insurance.
• Leaving the social circle - if the couple participated in shared physical pursuits (a hiking club, for instance) the day will come when participation will not be possible, and there will be a creeping isolation. Too, many friends will feel uncomfortable, not knowing what to say, and will begin keeping their distance.
• Having to quit driving - driving is mobility is independence, and losing that facet of independence can be a huge blow to the psyche.
• No longer being able to have sex - having to forego physical intimacy can be very demeaning; a man may no longer feel ;like a man', nor a woman 'like a woman'.There's also the ear that loss of physical intimacy can lea to loss of emotional intimacyThe blow can be softened by closeness and milder forms of sexual stimulation, but most patient who have passed this point will be able to tell you exactly when they last had intercourse - it can be that big a deal.
• Becoming housebound - eventually trips that are not vital become too difficult, too uncomfortable, and with incontinence, too potentially humiliating. I am writing this on May 22, 2017; the last time I left the property was November 6, 2016. It should be noted that this also precludes outings and vacations, which are losses in themselves.
• Switching from treatment to palliative care - when the patient is told (or realizes) that medical support has gone from trying to find a cure to 'improving quality of remaining life', it can be quite a blow. The horizons close in, and the future is bleakly truncated.
• Incontinence - some illnesses, like mine, eventually bring bladder and bowel incontinence, and it makes one feel just vile. Incontinence anchors you to a fixed radius from a bathroom, and calls for regular - and unpleasant - cleaning. Frequently. Incontinence underscores the feeling that one has moved outside of the normal worl, that one can never go out to dinner, or to church, without worry. (Some individuals, strong ones, become OK with wearing adult diapers; I am not one of those.)
• Unreliability in financial matters - medication for pain and other symptoms play with the mind, and can make it hard to pay bills on time, and balance a checkbook. They create a netherworld of uncertainty, and there is a time when the trust one's spouse had that even though sick, one can still contribute by paying the mortgage, utilities, and insurance pon time must be surrendered.
• Hospice care - thank God, there is now in-home hospice, but it's a big threshold to cross, letting well-meaning and ind strangers into the house to provide care that can no longer be handled by the caregiving spouse.

These are just some of the milestones associated with 'circling the drain'. I've personally experienced most of these, all except hospice care, and since there's no insurance, that's not an option. I will write on these individually in coming posts, strength permitting.

But meanwhile...I need your help. If you have any insights into these, or there are others you can add, please mention them in the comments.

We're linked with Messy Marriage's From Messes To Messages - please visit for some great marriage resources.

And our musical theme is from The Traveling Wilburys, with, appropriately, End Of The Line.

Still hoping to get the new and improved version of Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart up and running in the near future. Just haven't had the energy to do it yet...but if you would like to read it, please say so in your comment and I'd be glad to send you a PDF (which should fit your Kindle).

I have another blog, "Starting The Day With Grace". The focus is a grace quote from someone you might not expect (like, say Mick Jagger) and a short commentary. I hope you'll join me.

Marley update... been moved to a sanctuary, and Bay County will revise their 'dangerous dog' codes.

WE MADE A DIFFERENCE!

And marley has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.

If you can, please do leave a comment. I am trying to answer all, and I am failing, but please know this - I read and treasure each one.

Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.

Your Dying Spouse 313 - Now Is All

I apologise that I am too ill to write much today. Too much pain, too much fatigue, and there is a part of me that wants to go home.

But I don't think of Heaven, not ever. I'm not anticipating it, not looking forward to it'...not wondering what it will be like.

Not because I don't believe. I do. It's simply that there's no way I can predict it, and there's no point is spoiling the now by looking forward to the next.

If nothing else, this illness has taught me, truly, that all is now.

And how I handle now is a pretty good indicator of both my temporal future, and my eternal one.

The present moment is not a seed to be planted for tomorrow's harvest. It's a totally mature git from God, and it can only be enjoyed as it's given.

This moment cannot be hoarded, or traded.

And it deserves to be enjoyed for exactly what it is.

And now for some music...Jimmy Buffett's Come Monday with an introduction by the margaritaville Man himself.

Your Dying Spouse 312 - And There Is Joy {FMF}

The other night was not pleasant, and I said to Barbara, "I really would prefer not to die."

She replied, "Do you really want to keep suffering?"

Hers was not a rhetorical question. If faces a deep truth. (There's the FMF word, Yay!)

There's enough Scriptural counsel to embrace suffering, to take up one's Cross, and to count it all joy (in your face, Joel Osteen!), but you do get the feeling, that, well, gosh...maybe enough's enough?

Maybe it's OK to be tired of the whole thing, the pain and the unsteadiness and the fatigue and the ever-present need for cleaning supplies and fresh laundry.

Maybe it's OK for a loving caregiver to long for the end of witnessed agony, and I'm using that term deliberately...because a lot of this is agony. I've known lacerations and impalement and burns and broken bones and serious acute illness, and I know that this is far, far worse.

But on the other hand...

There is joy here, like stars winking on as clouds move across a dark and stormy sky. And the strange and unexpected thing is that the joy does not come from a temporary diminution of pain...the pain's a necessary foil, the shadow that defines the light.

For example, I exercise. Every guide to cancer I have ever read says, Exercise to the best of your ability...it'll help you fight the disease.

So I do. Not much, a pathetic shadow of what I once could do, and I lie on the ground crying after every 'workout'...but there is joy there, in knowing that I made it through one more session. There is that small accomplishment. It's a routine that an unfit twelve-year-old would disdain, but it's mine.

And I do it.

And I write. Today I am writing ahead for Five Minute Friday, because it is not certain that I will be able to respond to the keyword when it's revealed, and it IS certain that my response, if it comes, will not be timely. (The word is Truth. It's in here somewhere.)

No matter. One does what one can, and when this post is done...hours from now...it will be done. I will trace the spasms of pain in the lines I write, and see small triumph there...that moment, that flow of words was when I overcame this.

Shadow defining light.

And why bother with this temporal light? Why not just go to the Light?

Because this is something worth sharing. By having my future curtailed I have learned to value and treasure every minute...not for what I can do, but for its own sake.

Because of the coming separation - temporary - from those I love, I have learned to love with a full heart, overlooking the things that give normal life so much friction.

And because I have been asked why I trust a God that has allowed this crucible of pain and despair, I've been forced to examine my faith, and in the flames it has been tempered, and has come out hard and sharp and true.

They say God's Word never returns void.

Neither do our words, if we care - and dare - to submit them to His Will.

One day we will live in the Light; its joy and grace will need no shadows for definition, and we will drink it, breathe it, live it.

But for now, the Light of God's Will working in us is defined by the shadows of hurt, so that those around us can see His Glory.

The musical theme is courtesy Carly Simon...yeah, you guessed it. Let The River Run. Enjoy!

Still hoping to get the new and improved version of Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart up and running in the near future. Just haven't had the energy to do it yet...but if you would like to read it, please say so in your comment and I'd be glad to send you a PDF (which should fit your Kindle).

I have another blog, "Starting The Day With Grace". The focus is a grace quote from someone you might not expect (like, say Mick Jagger) and a short commentary. I hope you'll join me.

Marley update... been moved to a sanctuary, and Bay County will revise their 'dangerous dog' codes.

WE MADE A DIFFERENCE!

And marley has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.

If you can, please do leave a comment. I am trying to answer all, and I am failing, but please know this - I read and treasure each one.

Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.