Forcing Fluids At End Of Life
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...
Something to Think About: a blog on end of life
Eating or not eating
When Doctors Can't Fix My Ailing Body, I Want to Close My Eyes And...
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...
The Amazing Grace of Mary Nell
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...
Caring for the Alzheimer's Patient
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...
Making Decisions
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...
Three Keys- To The Dying Process
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....
Alzheimer's, Dementia Patients and Hospice
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,...
Dementia Doesn't Play By The Rules
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...
Eating and Not Eating as End of Life Approaches
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...
What Does The Future Hold For Mom With ALS?
ALS is horrific disease, not that there is a “good” disease but ALS traps a good mind in a slowly deteriorating, non functioning body affecting not only the ability to...
Staff Concerned "We Are Starving Mom To Death"
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,...
Two Questions: One Regarding Dementia; The Other About Nutritional Supplements
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...