Something to Think About

Barbara, People have asked me when and how I can offer others your booklets. With anyone, an acquaintance or close friend, you can always just say, “I have some materials...

In the End of Life Care and Bereavement Group I have on Facebook some of us who are or have been hospice nurses were talking about what we, as hospice...

Grief is a reaction to loss. Loss equates to a death, a death of something or someone. Death comes in many ways, many forms. There is the death of a...

In non medical words I would call terminal delirium confusion with or without restlessness. In the weeks before death a person who has entered the dying process is sleeping most...

Question: How much is comprehended by the patient as they approach end of life? Do they know who is present, if someone is absent? How does the patient feel knowing...

When someone is dying a gradual death from disease and is hours tominutes from death they don't need a doctor, nurse, social worker, or evena chaplain. They need someone who...

As death comes closer we tend to see that families have a hard time with the fact that the patient does NOT want to eat or drink. Not wanting to...

Being a type A personality I am moving and doing something most of the time. Tasks are finished before they need to be. Goals are the drive behind me, not...

QUESTION: The doctor recommended hospice for my father today (89, congestive heart failure). I believe this is probably the right thing, but how do I know this isn't about money...

Over the years people have told me stories of a friend or neighbor who was dealing with end of life issues. They then have asked that I call that person...

Don’t tell Grandma. There has been many a time when I did a hospice assessment and a family member has said to me “Don’t tell Grandma she can’t be fixed....

We have all sorts of fears around dying and death so we keep thoughts of end of life at bay. We are like ostriches who bury their heads in the...

Mary Nell’s son in law, Ted, sent me this writing. It is so poignant I asked him if I could share it with my blog readers. It is longer than...

October 15 was National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. I’ve been asked to write about the grief experienced with the loss of a baby through miscarriage or stillbirth. I...

My husband tells the story of me asking our hospice nurse how long she thought my mother had to live (a question all families ask). My husband knew that I...

QUESTION: If a family member suffers a stroke what is the right decision about whether to use a feeding tube? I think it depends on what a person’s mind and...

QUESTION: What to do if the Doctor suggests stopping life support? RESPONSE: No one wants to be in the position of determining when a person dies, not doctors, not family....

QUESTION: What are we trying to achieve by treatment? That is THE question everyone involved in medical decision making needs to ask. Who is everyone? Physician, patient, and family. Most...

I caught myself thinking, as I folded laundry this evening, that I want this day to end. I want this week to hurry up as I have something in the...

We can die gradually two ways. We just get old and our body wears out or we get a life threatening illness, disease, and die gradually that way....

QUESTION: Please speak to Hospice Approval Denied due to only major diagnosis code being Alzheimer's and not considered to be in final stage. But person not eating, ~70 lbs now,...