My step-mum recently passed away with the cause of death listed as Pneumonia and MS.
She had been declining over the past year and a half and her preliminary diagnosis was cancer. Due to her deteriorated state at that point (she was very thin, couldn’t use legs or right arm), they decided not to have further tests to properly diagnose it or even treat it.
So she eventually stopped eating and then drinking, and needed to be kept on morphine until she was at peace.
She had lost the ability to speak by the end and couldn’t swallow, was unable to move from the neck down.
My Dad (who also has MS) was her primary carer and she stayed at home until she passed.
She was diagnosed at age 30 and passed away at age 54.
It really did seem likely to be cancer judging by the way she seemed to waste away before my eyes. However they did autopsy her and could not find any cancer, therefore MS was determined to be a cause of death alongside Pneumonia.
After her autopsy, I did look up about people ‘dying of MS’ and found several articles and even pictures that mirror what I witnessed with my Step-Mum.
My Mum and my Dad also have MS and so I am terrified that the same thing will happen to them.
I am struggling to come to terms with it. I’m 32 and MS has been a part of my life since I was 10. My Dad was diagnosed first, then my Mum 6 months later. My Mum and Dad eventually separated and my Dad met my Step-Mum through an MS support group when I was around 11.
So I thought I knew MS relatively well as it has been a part of my life for 2/3s of my existence, and I have seen the havoc it has wreaked on my loved ones.
But I never imagined it could do what it did to my Step-Mum.
I miss her and I spent a lot of time with her in her final month’s. She was a sweet lady and MS took so much from her already.
If anyone has also lost a loved one to MS, I would really appreciate talking about it. Right now I feel like I will never come to terms with it.