Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Category: End of Life

  • And a time to die

    Katherine ArnupOttawa, Canada “You’re going to be an expert at this by the time you’re done with me,” my sister joked, shortly before her death from cancer at 51. “Maybe,” I protested, “but I don’t want to learn it from you.” Four years later, I began volunteering at a hospice near my home. By the…

  • A good death

    John Henning SchumannChicago, Illinois, United States In America, too many people die in the hospital. Yet if you ask most people, they would rather die at home surrounded by their loved ones, drifting off to sleep painlessly. Why, then, do so many who prefer this type of death instead die medically, in the hospital undergoing…

  • Rethinking the knowledge of terminal illness: Is it a quality of life issue?

    James B. RickertBloomington, Indiana, United States I found myself sitting again with an oncologist waiting to hear the results of treatment. I felt calmer this time because my friend, who was being evaluated for recurrent ovarian cancer, had requested that I come, but I still had a pit in my stomach. We had driven down…

  • My father’s glasses

    Geoff KronikBrookline, Massachusetts, United States I took them with me when I left the hospital that day, but five years later, I still have not put them on. Holding the glasses starts a movie in my memory, a biography of my father, but if I imagine wearing them a stranger appears on the screen. That…

  • Charlie

    Gaetan SgroPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States It is a mild Saturday morning in the fall. A breeze is blowing leaves and garbage past the entrance to My Brother’s House, a shelter on South 15th Street, and the sun is shining brightly off the inside of the open door. The door’s black paint is scratched through in…

  • Is there a good death?

    Frank Gonzalez-CrussiChicago, Illinois, United States Is there a good death? I contend that there is no answer to this question. There is indeed a rare species of questions that are unanswerable, and this is one of them. Those who have escaped from a near-fatal accident, or recovered from a serious illness, or somehow realized that…

  • God’s menu

    Florence GeloPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, USA “You act like you are waiting to die!” Sophie explains that this accusation comes in many forms from friends and members of her church. “Why don’t you go to the health spa? Give up those medications. What you need are good, nutritious foods, vitamins, and minerals. There is a spa in…

  • Miriam’s stoicism

    Elizabeth NegliaDurham, North Carolina, United States “Refused?” I asked incredulously. She’s in pain on her deathbed. Why would she refuse? Sarah, the night nurse, sleepily rejoined, “I told Miriam to take it, but she won’t. I don’t get it either.” It was 7 am. Sarah was eager to go home, and I needed to start…

  • Last words

    Dean GianakosVirginia, United States It’s after midnight, and I’m on the phone with the family medicine resident. “Dr. Gianakos? Sorry to wake you. I’m here in the emergency room with Hattie T. I know you know her from previous admissions. Another COPD exacerbation, Dr. G. I’ve given her antibiotics, steroids, and three neb treatments. She…

  • Dr. Gianakos, I think he’s awake now

    Dean GianakosVirginia, USA It’s 2 am, and I’m on the phone with my first-year resident, Sherry. “Dr. Gianakos, I have one of your patients here in the emergency room, Jack Jones. As you know, Mr. Jones is a 72-year-old man with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He came in tonight complaining of increasing shortness of…