Something to Think About

a blog on end of life

We love sharing helpful info on our blog.

About the BK Team
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...

When An Alzheimer’s Patient Begins Hospice Care

Hospice provides care and services for people in the last six months of their life. A doctor must specify, in his/her best opinion, that this person has less than  six...

The Anger Surrounding Narcotic Use at End of Life

Taking care of someone at the end of life is different from taking care of someone who is going to get better—-but most people don’t know that either. Unless we...

"Believers" and "Non-Believers" Facing End of Life?  Is There A Difference?

We human beings are complicated creatures. We approach death in the way we have approached living and according to our personality. Our belief systems are part of that living. Sometimes...

What Do You Do When Words Become Meaningless?

I think we healthcare workers rely on our words as our offering. Explanations, suggestions, instructions, even using words to offer condolences and trying to comfort. And yes, words are a...

Advance Directives Are Not Written In Stone

Filling out an Advance Directive when you are healthy is different than filling one out when you are elderly or living with a serious illness...

Why Do We Lose Rational Behavior During Times of Intense Trauma?

Our base nature comes out when we are in pain, other worldly, and on high doses of all kinds of medications.  We are unconsciously expressing the terrible situation we were...

Why I Believe a Person Should Be Told They Can't Be Fixed

Number one, we are all going to die at some point. Of course the operative words here are “at some point.” If we are told death will be the outcome...

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