Amy, see my comment on the other Stephen Gately post where I wondered incredulously where his “husband” was when this was going on.

Cathy, the nurse only comes on Sundays!! Can you believe it? But with New York State’s dismal fiscal situation everything has been cut back and that includes palliative care (which my cousin, her daughter, opted for…even though she’s not home during the day because she is terrified of losing her job).

We do have this thing called a home attendant that basically means she gets a person to prepare meals and clean and shop and go to the pharmacy. But she is not allowed under state law to administer any medication. A family member or nurse can do that under NYS law. I worked as a nursing unit coordinator once so I’m used to syringes, needles and meds. Never mind that the ONLY things that are fully metric in the U.S. are medication dosages and it seems incredibly difficult for her daughter to understand the difference between 1 cc and 1 mL.

The most difficult thing about this? Having to answer “What’s wrong me?” over and over again and having to tell her that she has a precious few months left. Her doctor has ordered us not to lie to her about her diagnosis. He’s a very nice man trained by the same oncologist that treated my boyfriend for lymphoma several years ago. Still, my aunt doesn’t believe me when I tell her that she has very little time left. And yes, pancreatic cancer is awful. It has spread to her liver, lungs and has created these very big and very nasty blood clots that have to be treated with another injection (Arixtra).

And as far as who’s next…Captain Lou Albano died last night. Remember him from the 80s? He was the wrestler that hung out with Cyndi Lauper.

To those saying it is impossible to die of natural causes at 33, that is nonsense. One of my friends dropped dead from a heart condition he didn’t know he had, he was only 20 and seemed very fit and healthy. At this stage, nobody knows what happened, just seems like he died in his sleep.

This is an unbearable situation during an unbearable year. I just keep thinking…who’s next? Do you?

I watch the news reports like a hawk and am dreading to think who’s next! I hope we make to the end of the month without losing anyone else. Turns out Stephen died from choking on his own vomit after a night of drinking, according to what I’ve read so far. I’m going to watch the reports come in all night and update in the morning, about how Stephen Gately died and his final hours.

Strange thing about dying people…they get so angry and cranky. I went to inject her today and she almost slapped the syringe out of my hand. I’ve been injecting her with morphine twice a day and giving her 15 mg morphine tabs as needed to make sure she’s in no pain.

This is an unbearable situation during an unbearable year. I just keep thinking…who’s next? Do you?

This is just awful. I want 2009 to end already.

I agree, this has been an unreal and very heart-breaking year. So very, very sorry to hear about your Aunt. I hope she is at least comfortable, in her final months. xoxo

Everywhere I turn. Even in my own personal life, now I’m taking care of my dying aunt who was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and has been given less than 6 months to live.

This is just awful. I want 2009 to end already.

To die in his sleep at 33 – everyone will be assuming drugs of course, but he just doesn’t seem the sort to be that stupid. He’s always so full of life and always so cheerful.. there HAS to be another cause…

If it is drugs, something seriously has to start changing…. it’s just getting rediculous.

Do they know how he died?