There are many things I never thought I'd do, and this is one of them: counsel someone about end-of-life care for a family member over Facebook chat.
I offered a phone call, but she was sitting at the hospital and didn't want anyone to overhear. So we typed back and forth in the little Facebook window about IV fluids and nutrition and fluid overload and oxygen saturation and how you tell someone you love that it's OK to let go.
It was really frustrating not to be able to hear her voice, and I realized how much I rely on my own voice - and how much I prefer to have these conversations in person, where I can use touch and eye contact to convey my concern. Tonight it took a lot more words to say the same thing.
What a brave new world it is, indeed.
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2 comments:
I undertand that method of communication, especially if I was sitting bedside of the person. It must have been such a comfort to have you on the other end. I know I would appreciate your counsel.
I hope you don't mind, but I'm having this passive aggressive thing where I keep emailing my new psychiatrist (as of may) even though she has stated twice that she doesn't email patients, and anyway I just sent her and email with the subject "somebody joined the 21st century..." and the only thing in the body of the email was the link to this post. My appt next week should be interesting...
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