In This Time of Great Fear, DYING 101
People don’t die like they do in the movies—alive one minute, saying something profound and dead the next. There is a way that the body dies. A way it is...
Something to Think About: a blog on end of life
signs of dying
Taking Some of the Fear Out of Dying Alone
I see families devastated by not being able to be with their loved one as they are dying. I am writing this for any person who is faced with a...
Did the AIDS Epidemic Set Us Up To Handle COVID-19?
There are many of the same circumstances with today’s coronavirus as we faced with HIV/AIDS in the early years— lack of medical knowledge, lack of guidance, and fear. I think...
We've Just Begun Social Distancing~ Here Are My Thoughts
Isolation from others is teaching me this about my self ——- I do a lot for others, for their thoughts of me, why else do I wear makeup? Get dressed?...
HOSPICE DEATH CALL~ How To Comfort A Family You've Never Met
We do this all the time. We enter tense situations where people are frightened and unsure, with people who have never seen us before. This is what we do: We create...
Why Didn't They Tell Me?
Your book explained so much. Mom's dying was almost exactly like you explained in your book. In hindsight, I am unsure why we, her family, were not advised, taught, or...
Is Talking About Dying Insensitive?
We really aren’t doing people any favors by not being honest with them. We aren't giving their families the opportunity to do and say what needs to be said and...
Is Dying Defeat? A hospice perspective...
It is how we feel at the end of the day about ourselves and our life that comes first. Our personal well being takes priority over any amount of work...
Will I Know I'm Dying?
In our personal situations we may never have an answer to the question did he know or had the process started months earlier. What I suspect is that at some...
Developing End of Life Expertise
You have to walk the walk before you can talk the talk. Learn from your patient/family interactions. At the same time read everything you can get your hands on...
WORKING TOGETHER, Hospice & Nursing Facilities
Hospice has worked with nursing facilities for many years now. Our relationship and interactions with patients and their families is now better understood and better defined. That said, some nursing facilities...
I Hear You, But I Don't Understand
...I remember being with my mother in my hospice Medical Director’s office. He was explaining to my mother his medical findings as they related to her illness. I, being a...