Expected death

Families who experience the death of someone through a life-limiting illness will have experienced loss from the point of diagnosis.

Life may have been turned upside down by caring for the person through the duration of their illness.
However, the fact that a death may be anticipated does not necessarily make the reality of the death any easier to accept when it happens, or the intensity of the grief any less. Shock at the finality of the death may still be a factor.

Families may also have found it painful to watch the deterioration as the person’s illness progressed and fear that their positive memories may be overshadowed. Even though the death is expected, families may not have had or taken the opportunity to say all they wanted to and therefore they may be experiencing some regret at unfinished business.

There may also be relief that the person’s suffering and the strain for family members through the palliative phase have ended.