Something to Think About

a blog on end of life

We love sharing helpful info on our blog.

About the BK Team
Protect The Wound Your Heart Is Carrying

Grief is like an open wound. When we healthcare workers experience a personal loss, every patient scrapes open our own wound of personal grief.  

There may not  be another time... Teach.

The role of any end of life worker is to begin teaching  immediately, on the first visit -- teaching about approaching death, what to look for, and what to do. That’s...

Movies Make Dying Look Comfortable. What Do You Do When It's Not?

Our role models from movies and TV show us that dying is gentle, often poetic, certainly not scary or messy. Movies make dying look comfortable.

Caregiver Fear and Frustration When  Food Is Rejected

As caregivers, we want so much to do the “right thing” for our special person. We know death is coming but still try to do all we can to stop...

When Our Emotions Blind Us From What is Happening

I knew all the signs of approaching death, of labor beginning. What I didn’t know was how much we don’t want to see those signs, and by not wanting to see them,...

Addressing Realistic Timelines for the Dying

Addressing the timelines of approaching death also neutralizes the false hope that our person will get better, that there is more time.

What Do I Do?  Mom Has Progressive Cancer and is Refusing Hospice.

Tell her honestly what you are feeling and ask for help. Just FYI: she can sign on for hospice and if she felt she needed to go to the emergency...

As Unique As Each Death Is, There Are Also Commonalities

When we begin the gradual dying process our personality tends to intensify. If we are an angry person we will get angrier. If we have a gentle personality we will...

Demystifying the Use of Narcotics, Pain at End of Life

Not everyone who is dying has pain. Disease causes pain. If pain is not present, a narcotic is not appropriate (except a tiny bit can ease labored breathing is present...

"Am I Going To Die Today?" on bright green background

When doctors and healthcare professionals place a number on how long someone has to live they are doing that person a disservice.

The Circle of Life: Birth and Death's Profound Similarities

We start off alone, then we have Mom and Dad, then family, friends, then the world of school, activities,and involvement in the bigger world around us. When we are leaving, we...

"I'm So Angry That He's Sick!"

Anger in caregiving generally comes from a place of frustration, of fear, of sadness, of tiredness. All sorts of feelings with no outlet so they come bursting out.

Sleep Is a Sign of the Dying Process

Dying patterns are centered around food, sleep and socialization. Assess those three areas and you can track the dying process.

Continued Sporadic Breaths After Mom Was 'Gone'

The heart is still beating even when our less sophisticated machines don’t register them. The breathing will get slower and slower and the time between breaths will get longer and...

Why do I say “Dying is not a Medical Event?”

In the months and weeks before death, medical intervention and medical tools are an active part of care. Pain management, skin care, mouth care,and bowel and urine care are all...

Terminal  Restlessness Is  Part of the  Way We Die.

Most of the time this restlessness, this agitation is not destructive. It is not severe. If the movements become thrashing about or hurtful and become a danger to the person...

Hospice Does Not Euthanize

I'm going to start by being blunt: hospice, end of life workers, hospitals, and nursing facilities make their money only as long as the people they serve are alive.. They...

Putting  Our House  In Order

In the days to weeks before gradual death occurs a person realizes, at last, that they are dying. They may not share that realization with anyone, but they know. If...

Is Dying Different For Older People?

As for the “signs of what is to come” for someone who is young and dying, those signs are also the same for everyone, young and old. People dying from...

Do You Know About The Gems of Dementia?

I know that dementia doesn’t play by the rules of approaching death. The guidelines relating to food, sleep and sociability don’t fit with dementia. I know that  I am seeing...

End of Life Patients Considering Suicide

If I think my patient is having thoughts of suicide, we will talk about it. Is there a plan? Are they just questioning life and dying or have they reached...

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