SOCIAL WORKERS: I want to be like you when I grow up
This is the story that came to mind when I decided to write a blog for National Social Work month. Social work, to me, is about saying the right words...
Something to Think About: a blog on end of life
signs of dying
Refusing Treatment At Age 93
Why make your mother’s remaining time be unhappy and with more discontent than is already there due to age and illness? Being old is hard work. Our thinking processes aren't...
Six Months To Live? A Doctor's Prediction
So many factors affect the length of our labor to leave this world that it is imprudent to put a specific time frame on approaching death. The closest we can...
BIRTH BACKWARDS, A Daughter's Death
At 8:17pm she took one more breath and then at 8:18 there was one more which I describe as hot caramel pouring onto vanilla ice cream. It was the most...
A PLACE IN MY HEART, When a Pet Dies
We can be as much at a loss when our pet is dying as we are when a person is dying but there doesn’t seem to be the support and...
Where Is The Hospice I Know and Love?
Hospice can not take the experience and sadness of a loved one dying away. Our goal is to help the family create a sacred experience, to help their loved one...
3 Things You Can Do As Someone Is Dying
The hours before actual death is very scary, a "I don't know what to do" time, for anyone present. Someone who knows the normal natural way a person dies can...
WHY NOT HOSPICE? A Reluctance To Refer
If the signs are there, get the referral and let a hospice professional determine if Hospice is appropriate. Three things I look for to tell me if it is time...
Pain, Morphine & "Dying in Peace"
It is certainly not within our role to act if a person, in the pain of the moment, wants help in ending their life. In the “pain of the moment”...
A Hospice With Integrity
Be the best hospice you can possibly be, provide the highest quality of care with the most compassionate, caring staff your area has to offer. Build a reputation within the...
THIS IS HOW PEOPLE DIE - my latest film
My message throughout all this time has been to educate, educate, educate. Educate anyone who will listen about how people die. To help people understand how death comes, what it...
Nursing Home Blues, Part 2
...Fortunately, I suppose, my mother is now bed-bound and we were able toget Hospice to help out, so she now fits the bill for a 'model patient'... but itstill seems...