A Chemical Straight Jacket, Dementia at End of Life
Dear Barbara, Will you talk about a chemical straight jacket at end of life? My mother is a dementia patient in a memory unit. Hospice now. They are giving increased...
Something to Think About: a blog on end of life
Dynamics of Dying
Laboring To Leave ~ Difficult Breathing at End of Life
The congestion that occurs before death will depend upon how hydrated ordehydrated a person is. The more fluids in their body, the more congestion.Sometimes changing their position (laying them on...
Tears on the Job for End of Life Workers
Death for those who work in end of life is not failureor the enemy. It is the ending of the work we do. Our satisfaction in thedeath of a patient...
16 Days Without Food or Water- How Long Can She Survive?
If she has had no water of any kind for 16 days I would expect her to die at anytime--maybe before I write this.
Does Morphine = Euthanasia in the Dying?
A great question. You have actually touched on a line of thinking that a lot of people have about the use of narcotics at end of life: that the narcotic...
Dangers of Morphine for the Dying
Dear Barbara, Talk about the dangers of giving morphine to one who is dying? I have written many articles on morphine yet I repeatedly get this question. What that tells...
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...
"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...
Unnecessary Suffering and Indignity at End of Life
We have the medical capabilities and procedures to keep a person alivealmost indefinitely BUT is it in the best interest of the person to do so? Wehave to ask “what...