Death As The Enemy
I was just on the phone with a woman who told me the doctor told her friend he was surprised she had lived this long with the disease having spread...
Something to Think About: a blog on end of life
Fear
"If They Would Just Eat, Everything Would Be Better"
Dear Barbara, what are the physical changes in appearance during the dying process? Also talk about not forcing food upon the dying. The physical changes in appearance during the dying...
Pneumonia, The Old Man's Friend
Now, all this said, there are thin lines and points to debate, in what istreatment to get better and treatment for comfort. Is pneumonia related to alife threatening illness or...
Abstain From Doing Harm
Where is medicine that treats PEOPLE that have diseases? Where is medicine that looks at the PERSON and finds out how they want to live and die based upon their...
Does "No Code" mean "No Care"?
First, lets define “No Code”. The simplest explanation I found was Googled from the Free Dictionary http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/no+code“a note written in the patient record and signed by a qualified, usually senior or...
Dying Without Faith?
We die the way we have lived and there are few death bed conversions. Facing the end of our life does make us look at life and its meanings, but...
What to Ask When Looking for a Quality Hospice
Because we don’t really think about end of life care until we or someone close to us needs it we enter into relationships with hospice that may not be satisfactory...
Hospice- The Initial Visit
Dear Barbara, I recently had a meeting with a family that was referred to hospice from a facility. They had about 10 family members at the meeting. The topic of...
Tired of Fighting
Barbara, I have a 23 year old daughter that has a chronic illness. She says she is tired of fighting. I don't want to lose her. I am lost. Having...
Caring for Mom at Home
Barbara, I am caring for my Mother in our home. She is in denial over her situation. She is bed bound but insists she is going to walk again and...
Signs of Approaching Death with Dementia
The process of a gradual death from disease takes two to four months (old age with no disease takes longer). Three things are the sign posts that say the dying...
Living With The Maybe
Grief is a reaction to loss. Loss equates to a death, a death of something or someone. Death comes in many ways, many forms. There is the death of a...