Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

Welcome to my little corner of the internet. Here's where I will be discussing life with a terminal diagnosis, specifically a brain tumor known as glioblastoma, or GBM. I had surgery to remove the tumor from my left temporal lobe, deep inside. I have stories all about treatment, recovery, and living life despite the bad news.

Thanks for visiting. Hope you have a listen! Check out the ARCHIVE for more episodes!! 

Nov 19, 2017

TRANSCRIPT

This is Episode 015 of Glioblast-O-Cast. Do I have plans for my journey to the great beyond? 

Hello, and welcome to Glioblast-O-Cast, the podcast about my life beyond glioblastoma. I'm your host, Meg Turecek.

In this episode, I will answer the question, do I have plans for my journey to the great beyond? Specifically, my funeral plans and a will. In my show notes are some links to tools to help organize your wishes for the end.

While my big plas are to stick around and survive glioblastoma for a long, long time, I can’t deny as a human that at some point this will all come to an end. And arrangements will have to be made.

So even though my most recent MRI was good and clear, I think this is the right time to put my wishes down on paper. It’s much easier to think about this subject when it doesn’t feel like time is running out.

I have thought about it and did some preliminary sorting of my things when my sister visited a year ago to help. But the feelings were not so easy to get past to prepare a full plan, as I was just recovering from some scary scans.

The thoughts of death and being gone felt a little too close to pick out what kind of flower I would want—gerbera daisies, by the way.

Now, though, as I have had a years worth of good, no-new-growth scans, it’s time to be more detailed.

I’m doing my planning in a specific way. Starting with the easiest stuff before getting into any potential emotional areas. This way, it’s a slow path to the big emotions and if the idea of end of life planning is too hard, starting with the easiest steps can help get you to the frame of mind needed for the emotional details.

So for me the first step is an account password list. While plans for the inevitable are not just for cancer patients. We all know we should have a plan, but no one wants to.

I keep a pen and paper address book to list all my online accounts from Amazon to my bank to my medical passwords so they are easily accessible when I forget what they are. I like to hand write it to have a hard copy and to enjoy the process of handwriting. I did read somewhere a long time ago that it helps reinforce memory and brain power if you hand write it.

I also keep passwords and hints in the phonebook app on my cell phone so it’s easy to find them. But there are lots of online options to help you safeguard your important information. And however you decide to list your accounts, keep them in a safe place.

The next step would be to make a list of all the important things you want to leave to people, your jewelry, your books, anything of sentimental value. Now, I would just start with the list. You can always designate a recipient later. But at least you’d have a list to go from.

It may help to take quick photos of your heirlooms. And it also might be good to purge the things that you don’t use, don’t have any emotional attachment to. It’s a good idea to donate, but mostly it’s just to organize and know what you have.

And last, the details for your funeral. What kind of funeral or memorial service do you want? This is a good time to plan your preferences for readings, for music, for flowers. Do you want to be buried? Do you prefer cremation?

I’m considering sending my ashes into space. And there’ll be a link for that on my website as well.

Along with funeral choices, I plan to write my own obituary. I mean, who knows best what happened in my life than me? I shouldn’t leave that to someone else to figure out. I also plan to write letters to my inner circle of friends and family.

Planning all these details and wishes can be emotional. That’s why I look at the individual task, and list, and don’t plan to figure it all out at once. By making these decisions with a clear mind will be a big help to your family when the time comes.

I still carry at the back of my heart the difficulty these decisions were to make when my Mom died. So I really don’t want anyone to have to go through that for me. Once my wishes are noted and easily accessible to my loved ones, then I don’t have to think about them again. Ever.

You can check out my show page where I will have some links for funeral planning.

Thank you for listening. This has been Glioblast-O-Cast Episode 15.

*************************

Ideas for Funeral Planning

Checklists: Planning Your Funeral Service www.econdolence.com/plan/tools/planning-funeral-service/

MyWonderfulLife www.mywonderfullife.com

The Good Funeral Guide www.goodfuneralguide.co.uk/the-ceremony/plan-your-own-funeral/

Funeral Wise: Prepare. Celebrate. Remember. www.funeralwise.com/plan/preplanning/

Everplans www.everplans.com/articles/checklist-pre-planning-your-funeral-or-memorial-service

Lexikin: your assets, your wishes. How to plan your own funeral www.lexikin.com/guide/plan-your-own-funeral

Celestial:Memorial Space Flights  https://www.celestis.com/