Grief During the Last Stages of His Life
From the moment of a diagnosis of a life threatening illness we begin grieving. We grieve not just the eventual losses that come with serious illness but the approaching death...
Something to Think About: a blog on end of life
Hydration or dehydration
Telling A Loved One They're Dying
...not telling a person they can’t be fixed is taking away their opportunity to do and say that which is important to them. It is taking away their ability to...
Food and the Dying Process
As a person enters the dying process, months before death occurs, they will gradually stop eating. Months before death they will stop eating meats, then fruits and vegetables, then soft...
16 Days Without Food or Water- How Long Can She Survive?
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.
"If They Would Just Eat, Everything Would Be Better"
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...
Signs of Approaching Death with Dementia
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...
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...
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...
Letting Go...
QUESTION: What to do if the Doctor suggests stopping life support? RESPONSE: No one wants to be in the position of determining when a person dies, not doctors, not family....
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...
Labor
QUESTION: Please expound upon the "Labor of Dying" mentioned in this blog. Dying from disease and old age has a process to it. That process begins two to four months...