One wants to say to another:

"I've been fighting during the whole past time, and when I say 'whole past time' I mean 'my entire life'"

So I write:

qaStaHvIS poH vorgh Hoch, jISuvtaH, 'ej <poH vorgh Hoch> jIjatlhtaHvIS, yInwIj Hoch yIyaj.

The question is:

Does the {yInwIj Hoch yIyaj} work for "understand 'my entire life'"? Or would it mean "understand my entire life"?

Of course, I could say this another way, but my problem is whether this could be done with the {yInwIj Hoch yIyaj}, regardless if it isn't the best choice.