Something to Think About

Most of us don’t think about healthcare decisions until something is wrong. But in crisis, emotions take over and clear thinking becomes difficult. Planning ahead—through an advance directive and sharing...

Many of us avoid thinking about death, assuming it won’t affect us or our loved ones—until it does. This article explores advance directives, DNRs, and why understanding these choices matters...

This is a guide all would be wise to complete now (and regularly update) before the information is needed. It is a gift to those left behind...

There are many different approaches and offerings. These multiple choices give you the chance to match your personality with the instructors and teaching methodology...

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...

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.

By not writing out our end of life wishes, organizing our material affairs, and talking to those involved, we are putting ourselves and those close to us in the hands, minds, and...

Someone has to have the courage to say “We’ve done the best we can. We can’t fix you. Let us help you have some quality time”.

If we don’t legally make our wishes known in writing and generally notarized, healthcare professionals will make those decisions for us...

In the days to weeks before gradual death occurs a person realizes, at last, that they are dying. They may not share that realization with anyone, but they know. If...

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...

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...

"When do we say our final goodbye to someone who is dying?" Barbara Karnes talks about how we say goodbye in stages. We say goodbye many, many times.  

Our job as an end of life specialist is to address the elephant in the room, to be direct and honest in the gentlest way possible. We are not doing...

There are many of the same circumstances with today’s coronavirus as we faced with  HIV/AIDS in the early years— lack of medical knowledge, lack of guidance, and fear. I think...

I'm sorry to say when a family member is dying it can bring us together and be our finest hour as a family or it can bring out the worse...

We do this all the time. We enter tense situations where people are frightened and unsure, with people who have never seen us before. This is what we do: We create...

You have to walk the walk before you can talk the talk. Learn from your patient/family interactions. At the same time read everything you can get your hands on...

...I remember being with my mother in my hospice Medical Director’s office. He was explaining to my mother his medical findings as they related to her illness. I, being a...

When living with a life threatening illness we are eating for two---our physical body and our disease. In most cases the disease eats before we do. If we don’t eat,...

There are other signs of approaching death that indicate a person with a disease (at any age) has weeks to live...