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I'm Afraid of Death - What can I do? |
This is one of the most
difficult questions you will face.
As medical science progresses, and treatments become more effective, people are
living longer, more normal lives with IPF. However, since there is no cure for IPF,
premature death is a fact of life. How you approach this is in large part based
on how you live your life, what you believe, and how you think about your future.
Many IPF patients make the conscious decision to live their life as normally as
possible in spite of their illness.
One woman has an old saying by her grandmother posted on her refrigerator. It reads,
"You have it, don't let it get you." She goes on to explain, "I have close friends
and family and faith in God, and have so many things to be thankful for. I feel
like I've been blessed. IPF is something that is a part of me, but I just try to
live my normal life. The main thing that keeps me going is my faith in God."
While religion and faith can be great comfort, others seek solace in family and
friends, or in their careers. One man explains, "I always had a focus of what I
wanted to do in the future. I knew once I was well exactly what I wanted. I knew
I wanted a career, a wife, a child, and I got them." He also tried to find laughter
where he could. "I watched tons of comedies on video every day. It kept my spirits
up." Finally, he embraced the possibility of dying, and found it to be liberating.
"I needed to embrace it. I didn't fear it. In the understanding of one's own mortality,
the greatest amount of beauty is found in every object one sees. By embracing death,
you are enhancing life. Trying to hide from the possibility of death would have
been the end of me. A person who is ill can become so much more than they were by
embracing the finality of life. If you make it through, you are so much better for
it."
As terrible as it can be, IPF does not have to rule your life. Whatever you are
going through physically and psychologically, you can still take joy in family and
friends, seek laughter and love, make plans for the future, and live every day to
the fullest.
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