Surviving the Illness of A Spouse

In a large study it showed that with hospitalization and also with the death of a spouse there has been and increase in health issues of the one who is left behind.  This causes what is called the widower effect.  In this study they found that when a wife dies, the husband's risk of death is 53 percent higher and with the roles reversed the wife has a 61 percent risk.  If you increase the health of the one who is ill, you will increase the health of the one who is not.

When your spouse is sick - whether it be for a short amount of time or for years - your relationship will change somewhat.  The trick is to make sure these changes are not for the worse but instead for the better.  There are several ways to keep your marriage just as strong as it always was.  Two of these ways are as follows:

Keep the lines of communications always open.  There will come times when the person who is ill will need to be alone for awhile.  Don't worry, this is okay, let them.  Telling your spouse you need time alone is okay, just make sure you tell them and don't keep it in.  This will just make you and your spouse irritated at one another.  Just make sure you do tell them when you need this time.  Be sure you hug each other often and say the three magic words of "I Love You." Now is the time to reassure each other that you do still love him or her.

Don't forget to keep having fun.  You may not be able to go out and see a movie or have that night out on the town, but you can still have lots of laughs and tons of fun.  There are several things you can still do at home; like renting that movie you both have been wanting to see.  Order out from your favorite restaurant and turn the lights down low.  Pull out the old board games you used to play all the time.  They are still fun and you can always come up with new ways to play them.  After all, they always say that laughter is the best medicine.