In an intimate interview, Duane “Dog” Chapman opened up about his how he and his former wife, Beth Chapman, spent their last days together amid Beth’s battle with stage 4 lung cancer. He also talked about how difficult it was coming to terms with life without her.
While appearing on Facebook Live show “Faith With Katie,” Chapman, 67, says that he always remained hopeful that Beth would overcome her battle with cancer and push through treatment by reassuring her that she wouldn’t die. Throughout Beth’s treatment, the couple never discussed the possibility of her succumbing to the disease.
Read More“They brought her out of the coma and I said, ‘You’re gonna go see my mom. You’re gonna go see your daddy. And Bethy, you’re gonna see Barbara Katie [his daughter who passed away in 2006].'”
Following her brave battle with lung cancer, Beth tragically passed away in 2019. On the one year anniversary of her passing, the Chapman family held a public memorial service in her honor featuring community paddle boarding in the evening and a prayer service on the beach in Waimanalo Beach, Hawaii.
Duane “Dog” Chapman talks to SurvivorNet about him coping with Beth’s passing
Coping With A Spouse Battling Cancer: Why Conversations Are Important
It’s an extremely difficult experience watching a loved one go through cancer treatment, and many spouses struggle with talking about the diagnosis and future plans. However, spouses have shared with SurvivorNet that having those conversations helped them cope with losing their partners tremendously.
John Duberstein lost his wife Nina Riggs to metastatic triple negative breast cancer, and admitted that watching her go through treatment made him want to ignore their current situation and pretend like things were like the past. However, Nina had already embraced the new normal they were facing, and forced John to have tough conversations about his future after she passed away.
"I really wanted things to go back to normal, whatever that meant," John says. "She was not for that. She wanted to embrace the existence that she had, even before she knew she was going to die imminently. I did not want to talk about what was going to happen with me after Nina died. Nina is the one that really brought it up, she brought it up a number of times. She wanted to make sure that I knew that it was OK … she really wanted me to have another relationship after she was gone."
Widower John Duberstein says his wife Nina forced him to talk about his future after she dies
The conversations between John and Nina were understandably uncomfortable, but in the end, he says that they were necessary and helped him cope with her passing. “I think, across the board, the people who have had those conversations who have lost a spouse are immeasurably glad that they did,” John says.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.