Janie Dalrymple has been a nurse for over 17 years including hospital-based bedside care, home health, and the outpatient clinical setting. She has a strong neurology background and was a Clinic Coordinator for an ALS Clinic for several years. After the unexpected death of her husband and mother at a young age, Janie felt the need to advocate for others finding it difficult to navigate the healthcare system, including dealing with end-of-life issues. Janie shares what life looks like after her husband’s passing and how she’s found new meaning in life after a whirlwind of grief.

 

Key Takeaways:

• A little bit about Janie and her grief story.
• Why did Janie’s husband commit suicide? It came out of nowhere.
• Janie blamed his work and the institution. He was being bullied by a coworker and he had complained multiple times about it, with nothing happening.
• Janie went to a grief counselor 2 weeks after he died.
• It would take Janie 4 hours to just get up and brush her teeth.
• Janie had suicide idealization after her husband passed away. Susan can relate.
• Janie could see how painful the sudden death of her husband was to her friends and family. She couldn’t do that to them x2.
• With her life uprooted, Janie took some time to figure out what her next career steps would be, and then her mom got really sick.
• Witnessing how the nurses and hospital staff treated her sick mother, Janie realized she needed to become a patient advocate and speak for people who can not speak for themselves.
• The best time to have tough conversations is when you’re healthy.
• Families often want to push their own agenda on a sick or end-of-life family member. It’s important to honor the person dying, not the family.
• Janie is working extensively with ASL patients, an incurable disease.
• Get your paperwork in order so that when someone passes away, family members can just focus on the grieving process.
• There’s nothing wrong with planning a grieving session. Just take 20 mins or an hour out of your day to just grieve.
• Would your loved one want you to feel guilty or sad? No!
• The unfortunate reality is that your loved one is gone. So what’s next for you?
• Janie now has a new partner and she is grateful that she can still honor her late husband’s memory.
• With a lot of pain, there comes a lot of growth too.

 

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Yourpatientsadvocate.com

Janie on LinkedIn