Something to Think About

Another part of the natural dying process is a person begins sleeping more. Starting 2 to 4 months before death occurs from disease a person begins taking an afternoon nap...

Some people have talked to me about “bad” hospice experiences so I want to address the subject. Unfortunately, there are agencies calling themselves hospice that really don’t practice the philosophy....

Dear Barbara, Will you talk about the use of morphine to ease the dying on their way? I am going to take that statement to mean “to ease the pain...

On the journey toward physical death, as the body stops eating food, it also stops drinking water. We all recognize the body’s need for hydration, for water, to live and...

There will come a time when a person just can’t and won’t eat but in the months before death a bit of time and energy can sometimes be bought by...

The bottom line is that no one can possibly imagine the ongoing challenges of living with and caring for a person with dementia until they find themselves caring for a...

Unresolved grief is not having figured out how to go on living after the death of a loved one. There are a lot of reasons why this happens. Here are...

Remember we all do the best we can in any given situation. None of us sets out to do a “bad” job, to live life poorly, to make mistakes, or...

It’s okay for our loved one not to eat once they have entered the dying process. They are reaching a point of just not being able to eat. The body doesn’t want...

Comment: “How sad it is. My brother, age 51, is a single dad with one son and (my brother is) dying of kidney cancer. He gave a fight but he's...

Hi Barbara, I just finished a CNA/HHA program and am looking for a career in hospice work. What options do I have? I took hospice training in 2001 through Kaiser...

There is a saying, “Live each day as if it were your last.” It makes sense that the last day of our lives is the day we would want to...

Afraid to Talk About Dying? Why are we so afraid to talk about dying, our own or someone else’s? I have a booklet about living with a life threatening illness....

QUESTION: Talk about dying at home, in the hospital, or in a hospice care facility. I think it is fair to say that most people, given the choice, would like...

QUESTION: “Life sustaining vs. comfort care, where do you draw the line?” This is a question everyone faced with a life threatening illness and their significant others asks themselves. We...

Many physicians are reluctant to recommend hospice. It is sad and confusing why they would not give their patients the guidance and comfort that trained hospice professionals can offer. Maybe...

Write something to the living who are young and dying. Signs of what are to come ect... I put these two questions together even though they came from different sources...

Question: Is there anything a person can do to help family members break through denial? Boy, is it unpleasant to be the truth-teller to a person who isn’t ready to...

Question: How do you grieve a suicide as a result of terminal illness and for no apparent reason? But there is a reason and that reason is the terminal illness....

Question: I have been diagnosed terminally ill with lung cancer and liver cancer. I am not at this moment yet, but wonder, how long? No one can be specific as...

People with unpleasant personalities while living will still have unpleasant personalities while dying. It is just that the closer to death they get, the less energy they will have to...