My Dad has lost his battle to ALS

[HeatherS]

Hi.

I have just signed up and am not sure if I am posting this message properly. My Dad has recently passed away from ALS and I am looking for some support. Not sure if anyone registered has lost a parent to ALS?

Heather

[anne]

Hi Heather. I am very sorry to hear about your dad. There are several people that come on this forum that have lost loved ones. We are all on this forum to support one another. Please let us know how we can ease your pain. Anne

[HeatherS]

Hi Anne,

Thanks for your response. My Dad passed away in January, I was by his bedside for his last breaths. My problem is I tried to suppress the grief and a couple months later it just hit me. For the last few weeks I have been dealing with a high level of anxiety. What triggered it was a panick attack and now I am trying to recover from it. I wish it would just go away but the darn thought and flashbacks of my Dad's hard times keeps interfering. Any else experienced this? I think I should look into a face to face support group. ??

[CindyM]

Hi Heather. I am sorry for your loss. Yesterday must have been especailly tough as it could have been the first major holiday without your Dad! Things will get better in time but for now you just need to put one foot in front of the other and do all you can to take extra care of yourself and those close to you.

There's nothing like face-to-face support. There are so many times I read a post and wish I could hug the sender! At least in the real wrold somebody can hand out a kleenix! That said, I think you should stick around here as well. Lots of folks on this fourm have lost people who are near and dear to them and they will offer great insight, tips on how to cope, and so forth.
Whatever you decide, please keep in touch and let us know how it is going.

Regards, Cindy

[hboyajian]

Hi Heather, I also have recently lost a parent to ALS. It helped me to talk with other people who had suffered a loss. I think a support group can be a good idea if you can find one that you can get to. I know several people in my community who have lost a family member, and they were able to offer support and understanding from their own experience. At first, all of us felt a sense of unreality and numbness. I think this is your mind's way of protecting you from such intense pain that you can't feel it all at once. I still can't quite believe I won't see my dad again each time I go to my mom's house. She has left all his things just as they were for the last 3 months. Sometimes I pick something up that reminds me of his life or look through photographs, and that helps me to connect with positive memories. At first, I kept going over and over his last struggle in my mind as though I could make it be different, which is very hard to let go of.
I hope that you are able to give yourself the nurturing and time that you need to feel the grief, and find support for when it overwhelms you so much that you begin to panic. It is o.k. to let it out in whatever way you need to. The emotions can be intense like a huge wave that seems like it will never end. And maybe it never will because we will always hold on to the memory of the one we love. In some ways I want to keep this raw grief right there in my heart because it is my connection to my dad right now.