Something to Think About

QUESTION: What are we trying to achieve by treatment? That is THE question everyone involved in medical decision making needs to ask. Who is everyone? Physician, patient, and family. Most...

I caught myself thinking, as I folded laundry this evening, that I want this day to end. I want this week to hurry up as I have something in the...

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....

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,...

QUESTION: I am a 30 year old woman working as a psychology intern at a local hospital. My engagement in the hospice program has me thinking a lot about my...

QUESTION: What do you think of use of oxygen at the end of life? – Does it hasten or prolong death? I consider use of oxygen at end of life...

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...

Then one day I got a phone call saying the baby was found dead in its crib---SIDS Only we didn’t call it Sudden Infant Death Syndrome then. It was just...

QUESTION: I am a Hospice Nurse for 3+ years but have been a nurse for over 35 years with varying experiences with death and dying prior to my present Hospice...

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...

Generally speaking, a person goes to a physician because something is amiss with their physical body. We don't feel well so we go to doctors for help. Physicians "fix" what...

James Dillet Freeman wrote a book years ago titled, Love, Loved, Loving. In the book he tells the story of a King who dies and upon his death meets an...

No one wants to be the bearer of bad news. Americans are a death denying society. We view death as the enemy and a failure: something to be feared and...

QUESTION: Death of a child. Why can't I move on? It seems I am stuck in pain all the time. I can’t think of any loss greater than the loss...

If we talk about dying, death or even make our advanced directives and a will then it must mean that we are going to die---soon. My husband and I were...

Shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer this letter was written to family by Truette Wayne Frank (March 6, 1919 to July 27, 1998). I have asked permission from his...

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...

If you teach your families well about the approaching end of life there will be no problems with them understanding the labor of dying. Having someone you care about dying is...

QUESTION: Could you write about why it's so difficult for people to start end-of-life care conversations? I was just on the phone with a woman who told me the doctor...

QUESTION: I would like to know if my mother died at home, could we wash and care for her, and dress her for bed? Can a person have family come...

Timing of the “hospice” talk is important as well as having an end of life talk before having the hospice talk.