Dementia and Fear
QUESTION: Do dementia patients have fears different from the rest of the community? (Included with the question submitted to BKB): Response from the Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) Support Forum FTD Response:...
Something to Think About: a blog on end of life
Fear
Sedation At The End of Life
Question: Will you talk about sedation at the end of life? There is a misconception that dying is painful therefore pain medicine/narcotics should be used routinely in the last days...
Who Decides it is Time for You to Die?
Question: Who decides it is time for you to die? Do we have input to this? Do we control our passing? I don’t know the answer to those questions. I’m...
Don't Tell Your Mother or Sister; I Have Six Months Left to Live
Question: My 87 year old father has cancer and about six months to live. He will not tell his wife (my mother) or my sister who lives close by and...
Thoughts of Suicide
Most people diagnosed with a life threatening illness think about suicide. Suicidal thoughts are normal thoughts in someone who has been told they can’t be fixed. We think about it...
Labor of the Dying
We live inside of our bodies so it is no secret to us when death from disease or old age is close. We may not share the knowledge with anyone...
I Just Want to Die
Frequently I will hear a person say “I am ready to die,” “I just want to die,” “Why am I not dead yet?” or “Why is this taking so long?”...
THE MOMENT OF DEATH
I have been at the bedside of many, many people at their exact moment of death. Those people have taught me what happens in the hours to minutes before death....
Treatment, Treatment, Treatment, Why?
What would you like me to write about? Bargaining--the patient (with terminal brain cancer) trying to find a cure; trying to find holistic cures to save his life and spending...
Living With a Chronic, Life-threatening Illness
I received a letter from a person whose chronic illness has put her at “death's door” many times over the years. She requested my thoughts on her ongoing illness and...
Morphine
Question: “Talk about the use of morphine to ease the dying on their way.” I am going to take that statement to mean “to ease the pain that is often...
Afraid to Talk About Dying?
Afraid to Talk About Dying? Why are we so afraid to talk about dying, our own or someone else’s? I have a booklet about living with a life threatening illness....