Why do you want to support people who are dying?
support people who are dyingBeing involved with end of life care is not something most people want to do, so what brings you?
Something to Think About: a blog on end of life
Dynamics of Dying
Why do I say “Dying is not a Medical Event?”
In the months and weeks before death, medical intervention and medical tools are an active part of care. Pain management, skin care, mouth care,and bowel and urine care are all...
Is Dying Different For Older People?
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...
Do We Choose When We Die?
Just think of a woman in labor and what she is thinking about—-getting that baby out. The person that is dying is in labor also, working to leave the physical...
Living Your Best Until You Can't
With gradual dying from disease or old age, nutrition, what and how much you eat, is the key to quality of living. Over a period of months with disease and...
The "Labor" to Enter This World, and the "Labor" To Leave
End of Life Expert Barbara Karnes, RN explains the similarities in the "labor" to enter this world and the "labor" to leave it. Read on...
Nobody Can Say For Sure When Death Will Happen
How do you answer a family member when they ask you how much longer their loved one has to live? That is a question most family members want to know and...
Rapid Heart Rate in the Dying
Their body is trying to keep going even while it is shutting down. The body's defenses are doing whatever they can to keep the body functioning THAT is why there...
The Three Signs of Approaching Death From Disease or Old Age
Know that all of these signs of approaching death, whether indicating months or weeks, are just guideposts. Some people will show all of them...
Caring for a Dying Son
Our children are not supposed to die before we do. I cannot think of any grief more intense than watching our child deteriorate before our eyes. We grieve their dying...
How Do You Grieve a Violent Death?
Sudden death by accident, suicide and certainly by violence intensifies those normal grief responses. Everything we feel with normal grief is as if we are being held under a magnifying...
How To Talk About Approaching Death
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...