“The way out is through the window.” The invisible thought ricocheted in my head and came out as a silent whisper. Mr. Peabody was an 73-year-old in the last stages of death. He was comatose, and I was meeting him for the first time. I was taking over his care as the attending doctor for …Read More
Tag: Death
I See Dead People ~ Dr. Christopher Kerr
“Medical training is about learning to defy death, when you can’t defy it, deny it, or avoid it.” Dr. Christopher Kerr, MD, found comfort in the avoidance of death until his career path inevitably led him to hospice. As a hospice doctor, he cares for those at the end of life. He has found that …Read More
Dead is Dead ~ by Alan Balter
Dead Is Dead ~ by Alan Balter Published: April 2017 When somebody dies, folks hardly ever say “dead.” They prefer “expired” or “departed” instead. Most of the euphemisms don’t do any harm, Like “biting the dust” or “buying the farm.” There are “fallen off the perch” and “given up the ghost.” “Taking a dirt nap” …Read More
Permission to Leave
“Doc, he’s gone.” Working as a hospitalist, I had a list of patients to see for the week. This was my first day back at the hospital, and so all the patients were new. Joe was on hospice care. The hospice facility was full. From the medical record, I could see that he was comatose. …Read More
#12: Home Funeral (Dennis Shuman)
“Is that even legal?” That was my first thought. In this interview, Dennis Shuman tells us how to care for our own dead at home. As a volunteer with the organization, Final Friends, he gives workshops on the history and legal details of home funeral. You might be wondering what home funeral has to do with …Read More
Resilience and Post-Traumatic Growth
“People act strange around death. There are those who talk about everything but the person who died. Those who talk about only the person who died. Those who try to cheer you up. And those who can’t help but make you cry. And then there are those who say nothing at all because they don’t …Read More
All Soul’s Day: Unseen Connections
Uncle CP is my great uncle, my grandmother’s oldest brother. At 91 years old, his wife developed stomach cancer. A couple weeks ago she went into hospice care. She passed away on Tuesday last week. On Thursday night, Uncle CP went to the hospital with chest pain and shortness of breath. He had been diagnosed …Read More