“Let’s start the powwow,” a man with a brown jacket and braided ponytail said with a smile. Nineteen adults and one child filled the back conference room of the hospital. The hospital had made an industrial cylinder of coffee for the …
Category: Palliative care
A family meeting in Navajo Nation
“Let’s start the powwow,” a man with a brown jacket and braided ponytail said with a smile. Nineteen adults and one child filled the back conference room of the hospital. The hospital had made an industrial cylinder of coffee for the …
Talk with family members about their wishes long before you think you’ll need to
I’ve been a doctor for a bit under a year now. I am a family medicine intern, working in blocks at a city hospital, wearing a lot of different hats. Sometimes I’m on the labor and delivery floor, helping new lives begin; sometimes I’m on the family med…
How families maintain hope of improvement, regardless of logic and science
I’ve always thought that I’ve understood illness and mortality very matter-of-factly. You live your life, you’ll most likely end up with some medical conditions along the way, and ultimately everyone’s life will come to an end because the body is not d…
Facebook Live: Inclusive Care at the End of Life: The LGBTQ+ Experience
For a generation of LGBTQ+ people who lived through unprecedented social change, getting older poses new challenges. When it comes to seeking elder care, concerns about lack of services, discrimination, neglect and even abuse threaten to reverse recent progress.
‘Living Their Values’: Palliative Care Power Couple Faces Cancer At Home
Kathy Brandt and Kim Acquaviva are both leaders in the world of hospice and palliative care. When Brandt learned she was dying of ovarian cancer, the couple decided it could be a teachable moment.
The nuances between palliative care vs. physician-assisted suicide
Sometimes referred to as “right-to-die,” “physician-assisted suicide” laws make it possible for terminally ill patients to use prescribed medications to end their lives instead of facing a protracted death. The latest state to p…
How the death of a patient affected this nocturnist
I am a nocturnist (a nocturnal hospitalist). I love my job, but many nights my work can seem unfulfilling. For one, taking care of hospitalized adult patients is primarily spent managing exacerbations of chronic diseases. Therefore, the reality is that…
Hospice didn’t stop suffering. But what it did for us was priceless.
My wife Uzma died peacefully at home. She didn’t take any painkillers for her last three days. Our kids, my parents, and I were next to her. In the weeks leading up to her death, many old friends visited her. Others sent her flowers, cards, and f…
Pledge to end your fear of death and end-of-life care
Are you or a loved one aging, perhaps with a chronic heart or lung condition that limits daily activities? Do you have an older parent in a nursing home or who needs assistance with daily living activities? If so, read on and make the pledge. As physic…
