Our office recently found out that one of our co-workers was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. She was to have her SECOND treatment this Friday (first was a couple of weeks ago.)
She was not feeling really great, but was at work the entire day Monday.
Monday evening she was complaining about severe abdominal pain, so she was brought to the Veterans Hospital and admitted. By the time word got around the office that she was inpatient, we heard that she was in ICU. Two of her closer friends were off to see her around 10AM, but were called back. She had already passed away.
She leaves behind an absolutely devastated husband, an 11 year old daughter and an 8 year old son.
She was only 39.
It's so very hard to find an answer when the question you hear most from your co-workers is "Why?"

BIG OOPS.

That's careGIVERS, folks.

When people have similar spiritual beliefs, part of the answer is easy, but you have to be careful of stepping on toes when you work for the government. We all know the medical/scientific reason for her death, but the best comfort I could easily speak was that perhaps Someone knew the chemo wasn't going to work, and she left us now so that none of us would have to go through more junk later down the road. And then I proceeded to tell her husband that if someone told him to "get over" his grief to tell them that he didn't have to, thank you very much, but that he would find a way to manage it as soon as he could.
I just hate it (like Gypsy, Mar and Mae) when I think I have a tight enough for now lid on it, and then something comes along to make it boil up all over again! But nobody learns to walk or talk in a week either, so why should that be any quicker? We can do this, all of us. We're really strong people - after all, we are CAREGUVERS, former or current!

I"m so sorry, Merrwid. Such tragedies always leave us with that "why" question. For myself, I can only cope by presuming that there is a bigger plan I am simply not privy to.Sometimes that helps me, sometimes my mind just screams "unfair!".

My sympathies to the lady's family, and to you and your co-workers.

So sad.Why.Something we all ask at one time or another.I have cried, why, why , more then I care to say.The body is a complicated organ.It fights when able and gives out when unable.One never knows.

Oh, sweetie, that is so hard to take. So Fast. I don't know "Why?". What can you possibly say? I will light a candle for the family of your co-worker.