Something to Think About

If she has had no water of any kind for 16 days I would expect her to die at anytime--maybe before I write this.

Dear Barbara, what are the physical changes in appearance during the dying process? Also talk about not forcing food upon the dying. The physical changes in appearance during the dying...

The process of a gradual death from disease takes two to four months (old age with no disease takes longer). Three things are the sign posts that say the dying...

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...

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...

Living with someone who has dementia is a daily challenge. It requires the constant reminder that this person is not who they once were. It presents the challenge of learning...

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...

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,...

QUESTION: My question is about when someone with advanced dementia is in that sort of vague pre-active dying period, say those months in and out of the hospital, the time...

QUESTION: Is a diagnosis of "Failure to Thrive" a choice on the part of the patient when they consciously refuse to eat? I’m not sure that most people “consciously” refuse...

Is life worth living with all this assistance? For some it will be, for others is won’t...

Food is the body’s anchor to this planet. It is what keeps us going, gives us energy, grounds us. As death from disease approaches the body doesn’t want the grounding,...

QUESTION: How long can a body sustain without food and only take in nutritional liquid supplements? Because there are many influencing factors my answer won’t be definitive but I can...

Dear Barbara, My sister-in-law has intestinal and liver cancer and was recently denied Hospice care/services. The reason given was that she has a port to a vein in her arm....

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: 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...

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...

It’s okay for our loved one not to eat once they have entered the dying process. They are reaching a point of just not being able to eat. The body doesn’t want...