I would be (and have been) sorely disappointed if I let my fear of death keep me from being happy in this life.
Do Your Family a Favor and Write an Advanced Directive Pronto
Like most Americans, when your time comes, you probably want to go through the process of dying surrounded by those you love, in the comfort of your home free of pain.
Watch ‘Em Die
Take a look at the pictures of the facility that let 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless die. The slang term for a place like this is a “Brass and Glass Palace.”
Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Dementia
Adult children and their parents who are inveterate readers of fiction, especially prize-winning fiction, may want to read two posts at VOXXI (Hispanic Voice of the 21st Century) about Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The two posts are related and inter-connect…
Reflections on Aging and Dying from 72-year-old Tom Hayden
This will, in effect, be a “guest post” from Tom Hayden, who most of us oldsters remember as an icon of 1960’s radicalism… and the ex-husband of Jane Fonda. He was recently interviewed by the Washington Post at his office in Culve…
Longer Old Age but Lower Quality Near the End?
A few days ago I added a must read link to Michael Wolff’s New York Magazine article, A Life Worth Ending. It’s an eye-opening piece, detailing long drawn-out decline of his mother. Check it out — it really is a must read. For our par…
Dying Well: A conversation with Dr. Ira Byock
Check out Dr. Ira Byock on the latest episode of Prime Time Radio explaining how to ensure the best possible care for those we love who are dying. In his book, “The Best Care Possible”, Byock emphasizes we must not only remake our healthcare system, we must also move past our cultural aversion to talking about dying and acknowledge the fact of mortality. It turns out, Byock argues, that we all must eventually balance the length of our life with the quality of our life.
Our Chance of Dying in Intensive Care – Peter Saul TED Talk
Australian intensive care physician, Peter Saul, recently presented a TED Talk about the increased chance of dying in intensive care in the 21st Century. He explains that one ten people will die in intensive care, but in the United States it is one in …
