Something to Think About

As for the “signs of what is to come” for someone who is young and dying, those signs are also the same for everyone, young and old. People dying from...

Hospice provides care and services for people in the last six months of their life. A doctor must specify, in his/her best opinion, that this person has less than  six...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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”...

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.

It is our job, our responsibility as end of life workers to be honest with our patients. In a “don’t tell mom” situation I first assess where everyone is, who...

How tragic that none can come forward and say, "Your father is dying. Let's stop all these extras and keep him comfortable”. Family as well as many individual physicians do...

We cannot put a number on how long someone has to live. There are so many factors that affect the time of our gradual death that the closest anyone can...

When life has run its course (however many years it is) our body begins to "wind down" much like it “wound up” in the beginning...

From what you have told me I believe your mother's death was no one's fault, certainly not yours. Her body, after all the years of illness, couldn't continue and she...

I also thought as we get older that question tends to come out of hiding more easily. The older we are the more the question lies in the back of...

In the months before death when the patient is still alert, still actively engaging, watch for clues, for openings to help bring the "what has life been about" thoughts forward...

I think the reason hospice gets their referrals in the weeks before death rather than months is because hospice implies death will come. We look for and hope for a...

Since at this time there are no “standards of practice” or even standards for the content given in end of life training, think about what you are looking to provide....

When the medical establishment has used all of their options to extend life of course we will not be happy with life and living. We may be depressed, angry, often...

What to do? First, look at the wording you wrote to me "could be dying." Actually, everyone is dying. Everyday we are one step closer to the end of our life. You're...

When the doctor says, “We have tried everything and the treatments are not working to eliminate the disease progression;” “Let’s talk about how you can best live your life from this point...

Part of the specialness of doing your own service/celebration of his life is the planning. The gathering of those who loved him gathered together deciding how to celebrate his love and life...