Type of person who struggles with the idea of terminal illness
People who tend to look after themselves by working out and eating healthy foods are more likely to struggle with the idea of death and the process of dying.
Palliative care nurse Maryan Bova has helped people with dying for 25 years and said some people accept their terminal diagnosis while others struggle to come to terms with it.
She revealed that those who lived a healthy lifestyle were those who felt more ripped off when they are given the awful diagnosis.
“They're the ones that have looked after themselves their whole life, for example the yoga teacher who runs retreats and has probably never eaten anything that wasn't organic and green in their life,” she told Mamamia.
“And yet they've been smacked down with a horrible diagnosis. It can feel like a slap in the face.”
Maryan confessed that the job can be emotionally draining as some experiences stick with her, especially when she was in the same position.
Her mother Helen was diagnosed with brain cancer and Maryan did what she did best - but this time it was someone close to her.
"I knew what it would all end up looking like, but I also knew how to orchestrate the help that was needed for her to die at home in a space she was comfortable in,” she said.
“It was a gift to have that time to talk openly, have important conversations and bond as a family. It was like mum became childlike again, a full-circle moment.”
Maryan stressed that it was important to look at how people with a terminal diagnosis are treated in the last moments of their life.
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