Category Archives: Death and living while dying
Much bigger than medical treatment
The end of life conversation is much bigger than medical treatment. It has to do with coming together and with people doing the work of dying and with people doing the work of living. The medical has to do with … Continue reading →
Your last 3 days?
How would you like to live at the end of life? Your last 3 days? :- Doug.
Two end of life conversations:
There are two end of life conversations. One is the kind of conversation we have at various times while we are thinking of our end of life: do this for me, avoid doing that if you can. The second is … Continue reading →
How I want to live before I die
Here is how I want to live before I die. And if I want to live this way, shall we now? :- Doug.
Betrayed by the doctor?
We feel betrayed by the doctor when we are told there is no more to be done to hold back the disease. But our anger stems not from the doctor, rather our culture which tells us we can buy our … Continue reading →
We mourn because
We mourn because we thought we’d have them forever with us, and now they are gone. And yet, we have them, just not in the flesh. We have them in imagination, in the marks of their spirits on ours. But … Continue reading →
The phone starts ringing
When somebody dies, the phone starts ringing. But when somebody lives, what attention do we pay? :- Doug.
Thousands dying this year of this
This year, thousands will die of not hearing. Hearing one another. Hearing is more than listening, more than preparing your response. This year, thousands will die of not being heard. Being heard is essential to continuing to live. :- Doug. … Continue reading →
Our whole work
Our whole work is conversing, engaging, encountering, meeting: our whole work is bringing us to whole, our whole work is whole-making, whole-realizing. Our whole work is conversing. :- Doug.
New tool: What’s your prognosis?
Friends– GeriPal.org has posted a combination electronic tool for doctors and other clinicians to use to get an idea about how long you or Mom or Dad might live, given your health and a number of other factors. You might … Continue reading →
Life, Death, and What Really Matters
Hi– Here is a great article on what dying people can teach us: http://noetic.org/noetic/issue-eighteen-january/life-death-and-what-really-matters/ From the article: “Their message is actually simple: focus only on the things that are most important while there is still time to make a difference.” … Continue reading →
On not missing death
Death is something I for now think I do not want to miss. I do not want to be on morphine or other substance to make me sleep through death. I want to be thoroughly alert. For I suspect there … Continue reading →
Surgeons confused by Living Wills: Study
Friends– Here is an article from the Annals of Surgery which headlines that Surgeons don’t discuss end of life care, especially when they are performing risky procedures: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/16/us-directives-idUSTRE7BF0F720111216 (More details are available here: http://www.surgery.wisc.edu/research/publication/1341 ) But if you read more … Continue reading →
When your time comes to die….
When your time comes to die where would you like to be and with whom? :- Doug.
Lively and life-affirming conversations
These conversations turning about end of life caring are lively and life-affirming; these conversations are fun when you get them going; the essence of courage is to take a breath and ask people to converse; the essence of conversation, these … Continue reading →
Prognosis: if you knew….
Friends– “For an 85 year old patient, with a life expectancy of six years, a frank discussion of prognosis might result in “a significant reordering of health priorities,” said Alexander K. Smith. “For example, maintaining mobility, putting financial affairs in … Continue reading →
Yes it’s true: Holy Smoke
Hi– I thought it was a joke when I got the email: someone offering to load your cremated remains in a shotgun (or larger!) shell so you can have one last turkey shoot. Then I found a reference in a … Continue reading →