"A poignant memoir and de facto guide for caring for a loved one."--BJ Miller, MD, Hospice & Palliative Medicine Physician"Frank, tender, real, and ultimately optimistic, Future Widow is the ultimate gift for someone going through the unthinkable."--Julie Lythcott-Haims, New York Times bestselling author of How to Raise an Adult and Real AmericanHow do I tell my kids-just nine and eleven-that the doctors can't fix their dad's cancer? How do I navigate eight months of caregiving so my husband's terminal illness doesn't destroy the rest of us, too? Will my kids be "OK" someday?These are just some of the questions Jenny Lisk was asking herself when her forty-three-year-old husband, Dennis, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. This health crisis turned her world inward and upside down, and thrust her into a role she never expected-that of cancer caregiver.In between surgeries, ER visits, thousands of pills, and ultimately, hospice at home, Jenny kept her corner of the world updated through a CaringBridge online journal.In Future Widow, Jenny goes behind the scenes of her journey through those tumultuous and heartbreaking months. She reflects on the community who showed her how to be an ally in a crisis, her search for guides on how to parent grieving children, and the dual reality of having to choose-and getting to choose-what her future will look like.Through it all, she grapples with this fundamental question: Do I have what it takes to help my young family survive my husband's terminal illness?
"This book is one you never want to have to read. It's also the book everyone should read."--From the Foreword by Jana DeCristofaro, LCSW, The Dougy Center for Grieving Children and FamiliesHow do I tell my kids-just nine and eleven-that the doctors can't fix their dad's cancer? How do I navigate eight months of caregiving so my husband's terminal illness doesn't destroy the rest of us, too? Will my kids be "OK" someday?These are just some of the questions Jenny Lisk was asking herself when her forty-three-year-old husband, Dennis, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. This health crisis turned her world inward and upside down, and thrust her into a role she never expected-that of cancer caregiver.In between surgeries, ER visits, thousands of pills, and ultimately, hospice at home, Jenny kept her corner of the world updated through a CaringBridge online journal.In Future Widow, Jenny goes behind the scenes of her journey through those tumultuous and h