Something to Think About

a blog on end of life

We love sharing helpful info on our blog.

About the BK Team
Would I Want This? A Question Every Caregiver Must Ask

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...

Think It Might Be Time for Hospice?  You're Probably Right

Death from disease and old age doesn’t just happen. There are signs and changes that begin occurring months before death arrives. You can use those signs as a reference indicating...

What if everyday was  “I Love You Day?”

Working with end of life all these years has shown me how special each day is. It has also shown me the value and the gift of living, doing, and...

“Some are happily planning holiday delights...”

Other people seem cheerful, happily planning holiday delights, and we, the grievers or caregivers, are reminded of what we don’t have, of what we’ve lost or are losing...

I Believe Hospice is About Healing, Building Trust and Educating

All the hours of talking, drinking coffee, and eating homemade pies was time spent healing, building trust, and educating. It wasn’t about blood pressures. It was about people, feelings, and...

Caregivers Carry The Burden

My hope in writing this blog is to draw our attention to the “unsung heroes” caring for their special person as end of life approaches, as well as to those caring...

Dying Is Not Pretty

People don’t die like they do in the movies. Mom is not going not going to say some profound words, close her eyes and be dead...

Grieving is Loneliness and Aloneness

I think a big part of grieving is loneliness. Loneliness for our person who has left us but also aloneness in our day to day activities...

Denial of a Life Limiting Illness

Denial by the person with a life threatening illness, denial by the caregiver, and I’ll even add denial by some attending physicians. Denial is often the reaction to diseases that have...

Caregivers Need Knowledgeable Guidance

...That caregivers put so much energy, time, love, and concern into taking care of their person that they can become blind to or just plain don’t want to see the...

Always Offer, Never Force: Food At End of Life

My husband Jack  has been dead eight months. In processing the five months from his diagnosis to his death, what stands out most for me is the tension that surrounded food....

The Maps We Need to Care For the Dying

Because of knowledge we’ve lost when people began dying in places other than home, we judge approaching death by the treatments and procedures used in getting people better...

Being on the Receiving Side of Hospice

Once we get up the courage to call hospice, we want to see you immediately.  Actually, we needed to see you, hear your guidance and advice, and receive your services yesterday. Families...

The Difficulties of Being Discharged From Hospice Care

Why is the patient being discharged, you ask? Is it because the patient just didn’t decline as rapidly as expected? Yes, that can be the situation...

Movies Make Dying Look Comfortable. What Do You Do When It's Not?

Our role models from movies and TV show us that dying is gentle, often poetic, certainly not scary or messy. Movies make dying look comfortable.

What Do I Do?  Mom Has Progressive Cancer and is Refusing Hospice.

Tell her honestly what you are feeling and ask for help. Just FYI: she can sign on for hospice and if she felt she needed to go to the emergency...

"I'm So Angry That He's Sick!"

Anger in caregiving generally comes from a place of frustration, of fear, of sadness, of tiredness. All sorts of feelings with no outlet so they come bursting out.

Do You Know About The Gems of Dementia?

I know that dementia doesn’t play by the rules of approaching death. The guidelines relating to food, sleep and sociability don’t fit with dementia. I know that  I am seeing...

Is Increased Sleep a Sign of Approaching Death?

With old age and no active debilitating disease process, all the signs of approaching death (less eating, more sleeping and gradual decline in social interests) occur, BUT they occur over...

Entering Into "Precious Time"

In our medical society today, it seems to be very difficult for physicians to tell patients and/or families that death is approaching; That this special person will die, and probably...

Hospice Services Pulled for Dementia Patient

There is a huge void in our medical system that so many families living with dementia fall into. These families have a loved one too sick and require too much...

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