The Anger Surrounding Narcotic Use at End of Life
Taking care of someone at the end of life is different from taking care of someone who is going to get better—-but most people don’t know that either. Unless we...
Something to Think About: a blog on end of life
"Believers" and "Non-Believers" Facing End of Life? Is There A Difference?
We human beings are complicated creatures. We approach death in the way we have approached living and according to our personality. Our belief systems are part of that living. Sometimes...
What Do You Do When Words Become Meaningless?
I think we healthcare workers rely on our words as our offering. Explanations, suggestions, instructions, even using words to offer condolences and trying to comfort. And yes, words are a...
Advance Directives Are Not Written In Stone
Filling out an Advance Directive when you are healthy is different than filling one out when you are elderly or living with a serious illness...
Why Do We Lose Rational Behavior During Times of Intense Trauma?
Our base nature comes out when we are in pain, other worldly, and on high doses of all kinds of medications. We are unconsciously expressing the terrible situation we were...
Why I Believe a Person Should Be Told They Can't Be Fixed
Number one, we are all going to die at some point. Of course the operative words here are “at some point.” If we are told death will be the outcome...
Helping A Family Decide Whether to End Life Support
If you have a good, amicable relationship then get them together and say, with caring in your heart, "I am going to tell you some things I have learned about...
We Euthanized our Cat Yesterday
She is gone, the house seems emptier. Baxter cat (who we let smell her before she left) seems at a bit of a loss, as he wanders the house. Is...
Let's View Living as More Than the Quantity of Breaths We Take
I want the medical profession, the medical model we find in doctors’ offices and hospitals, to do everything possible to help me not only regain my health, but to return...
When It Comes to End of Life Care, It Takes a Village
Hospice is widely known for providing end of life care. It has grown in size and in its original scope of services. Even its definition of “end of life care”...
Is Increased Sleep a Sign of Approaching Death?
With old age and no active debilitating disease process, all the signs of approaching death (less eating, more sleeping and gradual decline in social interests) occur, BUT they occur over...
The Sacred Moment of Death
All the work we do leads up to the moment of death. Our goal is to guide and support those present through the moment the last breath occurs.