How Are You Spending This Gift of Life?
The space between birth and death is the most important part of life YET we somehow go through the living part unaware. In a hurry, with a great deal of tension, and very little...
Something to Think About: a blog on end of life
Denial of a Life Limiting Illness
Denial by the person with a life threatening illness, denial by the caregiver, and I’ll even add denial by some attending physicians. Denial is often the reaction to diseases that have...
Establishing a Bond - The Admission Visit
How do we get beyond the social conventions of strangers meeting and getting to know and trust each other in a very short time? From the time we ring the...
Do I Need a POLST and an Advance Directive?
From the time we turn 18 until our last breath, we should have an advance directive in place. Once a person turns 18, parents have no legal standing. Most physicians...
Caregivers Need Knowledgeable Guidance
...That caregivers put so much energy, time, love, and concern into taking care of their person that they can become blind to or just plain don’t want to see the...
Conversations and Cake: Death Cafes Around the World
I see Death Cafes as the start of a conversation; the start of opening ourselves up to exploring end of life issues; the start of breaking the belief that if I talk...
All The Ways We Have For Saying Our Final Goodbyes
We used to have grandma’s body “laid out” in the parlor and family and friends came to our home with support and food. Grandma died in the home and we...
Using Palliative Sedation At End of Life
When the terminal illness, the disease progression, has been a pain filled experience and all comfort management options have been unsuccessful, then sleep is our friend...
It's Okay Not To Eat! Food At End of Life
My husband Jack has been dead eight months. In processing the five months from his diagnosis to his death, what stands out most for me is the tension that surrounded food....
How Do You Train Your Hospice Volunteers?
I am hearing stories about the lack of professional staff training for new hires, which led me to wonder about volunteer training...
Keep No Secrets From Those at End of Life
When working with families who ask me not to tell mom, I say that I won’t bring the subject up, but if she asks, I will talk about it.
"I’m Fine," The Universal Response From Grievers
What do I, the sufferer, want from you then, if “how are you?” doesn’t work?