Something to Think About

Question: Will you talk about sedation at the end of life? There is a misconception that dying is painful therefore pain medicine/narcotics should be used routinely in the last days...

Question: Write something about the need for people to lose their negative attitudes about people who have “certain” diseases: HIV, cirrhosis, hepatitis, B&C, lung cancer. I’m not sure I am...

Question: Who decides it is time for you to die? Do we have input to this? Do we control our passing? I don’t know the answer to those questions. I’m...

Dying is not a medical situation. In the hours to minutes, often even days before death, we don’t need medical assistance. We don’t need doctors or nurses or hospitals or...

Most people diagnosed with a life threatening illness think about suicide. Suicidal thoughts are normal thoughts in someone who has been told they can’t be fixed. We think about it...

We live inside of our bodies so it is no secret to us when death from disease or old age is close. We may not share the knowledge with anyone...

Frequently I will hear a person say “I am ready to die,” “I just want to die,” “Why am I not dead yet?” or “Why is this taking so long?”...

I have been at the bedside of many, many people at their exact moment of death. Those people have taught me what happens in the hours to minutes before death....

What would you like me to write about? Bargaining--the patient (with terminal brain cancer) trying to find a cure; trying to find holistic cures to save his life and spending...

I received a letter from a person whose chronic illness has put her at “death's door” many times over the years. She requested my thoughts on her ongoing illness and...

Question: How do we communicate with a person who is deaf, who has a brain tumor, who is trapped inside a body from a stroke, has dementia, or is in...

QUESTION: Please write about when a person is approaching death and they see or ask about people who have already died. In the weeks before death from disease a person...

QUESTION: As toxins build in the body because your body isn’t working right anymore, what signs are there that you are shutting down? Stage 4 liver disease, hepatitis C. I...

QUESTION: Should children be told of their impending death or do they somehow know it? It is interesting to me that we can talk about adults approaching death and all...

At this point in her disease process really the only medications your Mom needs to be taking are for pain. You could crush up the pills (make sure they are...

Question: My beloved cat is dying. My heart is broken. What do you think happens when animals die? Talk about dealing with grief from the loss of a pet. (The...

QUESTION: Would you write about dying from Alzheimer's? There is a reason Alzheimer's is referred to as “the long goodbye.” From diagnosis until death it is generally a very long...

Another part of the natural dying process is a person begins sleeping more. Starting 2 to 4 months before death occurs from disease a person begins taking an afternoon nap...

There will come a time when a person just can’t and won’t eat but in the months before death a bit of time and energy can sometimes be bought by...

QUESTION: “Life sustaining vs. comfort care, where do you draw the line?” This is a question everyone faced with a life threatening illness and their significant others asks themselves. We...

Write something to the living who are young and dying. Signs of what are to come ect... I put these two questions together even though they came from different sources...