Hello and welcome to NT!

I am sorry for your mother's suffering, but she is blessed to have such a caring daughter.

To say that living with severe, chronic pain is difficult is the height of understatement. The difficulty is compounded when it leads to us being housebound and feeling isolated from the world.

What gets me through is the knowledge that I am loved and that there are people who depend on me. My continued existence, painful and limited as it might be, is still important. On my really bad days, I flip through my family photo albums and remind myself that love is stronger than pain.

To that end, have you thought about putting photographs in your Mom's box? Better still, ask the children, grandchildren, siblings, friends, etc... in the photos to right a little message on the back. It doesn't have to be high poetry, just something simple and heartfelt like "I love You" or "You're Important to Me."

Does your Mom have a pet? I find that mine give me both companionship and a healthy feeling of responsibility.

Cheers