General Chat

(((((HUGS))))) and prayers for Mabel. Jan

my thoughts and prayers are with mabel tina x

Positive thoughts and prayers on the way for Mabel. ((((Hugs)))) Lindy xx

nudging for Gerri

I had a call from a friend of hers who had accompanied her in the ambulance. When she rang and announced herself, I really thought she was about to tell me the worst. Was glad to hear Mabel was being looked after - no-one deserves the pain she has suffered.

Thanks everyone. I called in today and she looked as if she had been crying altho she will never give in in front of people. A couple of weeks ago the Vicar of her local church did turn up to see her after a long absence and she is now back on the prayer list. He came back to give her Communion and last night I emailed him about her conditon and he said he had phoned her coincidentally shortly after the doctor had been in so he knew of the latest bad news. He will be going in again soon and will keep in touch with me if necessary, which makes me feel a little better, not being the one solely in her confidence. Life is so unfair sometimes.

Sending lots of positive thoughts. Roxanne x

Lots of Love and Hugs(((((()))))) to Mabel..xxxx

Sending lots of positive thoughts. Roxanne x

PP my thoughts and prayers ar for her Howardxx

I'll be thinking positive thoughts for Mabel The kids and I are off to surprise Big Grandma (Great Grandma) on her 87th birthday. The girls have picked individual presents for her and helium balloons. Tonight they are making her a birthday hat. We are taking party picnic boxes with BG's favourite sandwiches, cake etc. Big Grandma lives over 2 hours away so we don't get to see her very often. She want's to end her days in her own house (I can identify with that) but it means she has no family near. Like Mabel, most of her friends have passed away, or are housebound. Some days she does seem to be just waiting for her turn. I hope we don't give her too much of a fright when we turn up!

Thinking of Mabel and wishing her peace and freedom from pain and discomfort. If she used to go to church does the vicar/minister visit her, or does the church have a sick visitor. My Mum had a stoma from the age of 81 until she died at 85. Thankfully she coped extremely well with it, even staying in hotels etc. I expect the older you get the harder it is to cope though, and I know Mum was very self concsious of it at first. god Bless Mabel Ann Glos

Positive thoughts on their way to Mabel and (((((((HUGS)))))))

thinking of you Mabel heres a great big ((((((((HUG)))))))) Joycexx

So sad thoughts for Mabel Germaine x

PP, I hope Mabel doesn't suffer unduly. It looks as if she's suffered enough throughout her life. Nobody deserves to end their lives lonely and in pain. I'm sure Mabel will appreciate your doing what you can to make her more comfortable. It's always very unfortunate when elderly people lose family and friends, but inevitably someone has to be last. My mother was the last of 7 siblings to leave, and it was a source of great sadness to her to be left behind. Keeping in touch with friends when you, and they, are infirm is very difficult, especially when sight and hearing are also impaired. It's easy to see why some older people appear crotchety and ill-tempered at times. It must be very difficult to be cheerful when your health is failing and prevents you doing things you've always done. I think isolation and loneliness contribute a great deal to older people's suffering when they are ill. It must seem as if the world's against them and nobody cares. These days, with most younger people leading extremely busy lives, it's all too easy to overlook someone like Mabel, who may need some company and support. I know a couple of elderly widows, one 87, one approaching 80. The older one has three very supportive, loving children and several grandchildren, who make sure that she is never alone unless she wants to be and do everything for her that she can't do for herself. She is always bright and cheerful, and last year she sailed through major abdominal surgery - despite that, she is extremely active. The other lady has one married son and two grandchildren. They live quite nearby but rarely visit her, and she hasn't been able to go out alone for many years, due to arthritis. She can only walk with the aid of a stick, and then not very far. Although she does have a couple of friends who visit occasionally, she's usually extremely lonely and depressed whenever I speak to her on the phone. (She lives many miles from me.) Her family are always far too busy with their own social lives to spend much time with her, which is a great shame. I think the words of the Seal song are very apt in these circumstances - It's the loneliness that's the Killer. >*|*<

Thinking of you Mabel and sending positive thoughts your way. Jean x.

Life really is unfair sometimes, eh? I hope she doesn't suffer and that her days are peaceful. Give her a hug from me too Melanie

Oh Liz, how awful. I really don't know what to say, but I will certainly think of you both. It seems like up til now she's had a wonderful attitude and has done things she's enjoyed, like the piano lessons. Good for her. Please give her a big hug from me next time you see her. Love Brenda x

MABEL HAS FOUND PEACE AND FREEDOM FROM PAIN AT LAST. Mabel has been in a local nursing home for the past couple of weeks but left this world yesterday for the peace she deserved. I hadn't been able to visit her lately but will remember her the way I saw her last, a brave lady to the end. R.I.P Mabel. My elderly friend Mabel (89) is a widow of 39 years with no living relatives in the vicinity (her sister and niece live in Canada.) She has had cancer 5 times, the last time leaving her with stoma bag with which she has been coping well. She lives in sheltered housing. Until she had the colostomy she was attending church, taking language courses at the local college, and having piano lessons although she is quite hard of hearing. Over the last year she has been more and more unwell and her doctor has just told her he thinks she has another tumour in her stomach. She cannot eat properly, is very uncomfortable and in a lot of pain, and is so down. This time there won't be much to be done for her and she does not want to be cut about again (her words). What do you say to someone when this occurs? She has no future to look forward to, her visitors have become few and far between, as they are mainly elderly and are housebound themselves and she cannot travel easily because of the unpredictability of her stoma. She apparently had a hard life as a child and I don't think her marriage was that wonderful. She was sadly unable to have children and worked hard most of her life. Please send positive thoughts her way and hope she spends the last chapters of her life in peace without unbearable pain. UPDATE: Mabel was taken into hospital on Friday afternoon and is now facing a wait to see if the twist which had formed in her intestine will untwist by itself or if she needs an operation. She is on morphine for the pain and at least is being looked after and monitored, altho' I know she dreaded going into hospital again and swore she would go through no more surgery. It will be a waiting game now bless her. Please think of her and wish her strength to cope. FURTHER UPDATE - Mabel has had an op to untwist her gut and is making progress. On Friday she was allowed to sit out in a chair and is comfortable. Won't be home for a while but hopefully she is not in so much pain now and will be able to eat again. Liz LATEST UPDATE - Mabel has been told the cancer has returned and spread, so now the hospital are assessing her to see if she can cope at home (sheltered housing flat) with the help of Macmillan Nurses etc or whether she needs to go into a hospice. She would prefer to be at home but we will have to see what the hospital advise. How can life be so cruel to someone who has never done harm to anyone? UPDATE 17/12 Mabel is being moved to our local cancer hospice on Monday so she can maybe gain a little strength to spend some time back at her flat. I hope she will be kept there over Christmas so she has a little company and lots of tlc - they are wonderful there, my father went for respite care and then went back for the last two days of his life, when he had lung cancer. The staff are so caring and support the whole family not just the patient. Mabel will be in very good hands.