“We’ve done the best we can and we can’t fix you...”
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”.
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”.
Our body is programmed to die. We are born. We experience, and then we die...
Once we get up the courage to call hospice, we want to see you immediately. Actually, we needed to see you, hear your guidance and advice, and receive your services yesterday. Families...
The physician is frontline, the top of the pyramid in healthcare. All care follows from there. The physician can set the tone for the entire patient experience.
Why is the patient being discharged, you ask? Is it because the patient just didn’t decline as rapidly as expected? Yes, that can be the situation...
The role of any end of life worker is to begin teaching immediately, on the first visit -- teaching about approaching death, what to look for, and what to do. That’s...
Our role models from movies and TV show us that dying is gentle, often poetic, certainly not scary or messy. Movies make dying look comfortable.
As caregivers, we want so much to do the “right thing” for our special person. We know death is coming but still try to do all we can to stop...
I knew all the signs of approaching death, of labor beginning. What I didn’t know was how much we don’t want to see those signs, and by not wanting to see them,...
Addressing the timelines of approaching death also neutralizes the false hope that our person will get better, that there is more time.
When we begin the gradual dying process our personality tends to intensify. If we are an angry person we will get angrier. If we have a gentle personality we will...
Not everyone who is dying has pain. Disease causes pain. If pain is not present, a narcotic is not appropriate (except a tiny bit can ease labored breathing is present...