Something to Think About

Hospice and palliative care are not the same—and understanding that difference matters. If the goal is comfort and a natural death, certain medical interventions no longer fit. Let’s talk about...

It will never be “okay” for someone we care about to die, to leave us. We will always want those we care about to stay in our lives...

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

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...

Medicine and medical technology can prolong our life but not indefinitely and it is generally at the expense of our quality of living. Or we can reframe how we think...

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...

Isolation from others is teaching me this about my self ——- I do a lot for others, for their thoughts of me, why else do I wear makeup? Get dressed?...

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...

What is the aim of a life review? As a caregiver my aim is not to direct a life review but to be a presence, a listener, and a friend....

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...

My message throughout all this time has been to educate, educate, educate. Educate anyone who will listen about how people die. To help people understand how death comes, what it...

...Fortunately, I suppose, my mother is now bed-bound and we were able toget Hospice to help out, so she now fits the bill for a 'model patient'... but itstill seems...

There have been many changes in hospice care since it began. Some for the better, some not so much. What I am suggesting as representing a “good” hospice is becoming...

...not telling a person they can’t be fixed is taking away their opportunity to do and say that which is important to them. It is taking away their ability to...

I believe that everyone has the right to decide how they will live and how they will die. There are people that no matter the disease will want to have...

How to let go and stop feeling guilty? At first you probably aren't even aware of your feelings. When someone close to us dies, even if we are told it...