Tag: End of Life
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Remembering George
Anthony PapagiannisThessaloniki, Greece It is early morning on New Year’s Eve, and as I am about to get up from a good night’s sleep, I remember George. There were three of us who had graduated together from the same high school class half a century ago and subsequently went into medicine. University admission was the…
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Burial in modern Greece
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden While much is known about funeral customs in ancient Greece, the particulars of burial in modern Greece have received little outside attention. Today, one half of the population of Greece lives in the two largest cities, Athens and Thessaloniki. There is not enough space in big urban centers to conduct burials that…
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The self-destructive urge
JMS PearceHull, England Preservation of life is often an unwritten axiom of medical practice. Sections on therapeutics in medical books and papers usually assume the obvious: aim to preserve or extend life. They rarely discuss the alternative harm or good that results from allowing nature to take its course unhampered. There are elements in humans…
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Book review: Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and the Quest for Immortality
Arpan K. BanerjeeSolihull, England The subjects of ageing, death, and immortality have long preoccupied human thoughts and culture. The ancient Egyptians practiced mummification out of a belief in an afterlife. Buddhists and Hindus believe in reincarnation with the immortal soul living on in another body. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam also have rites and rituals that…
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No one is speaking
Nina SokolDenmark A translated excerpt from the poetry collection No One Is Speaking by Danish writer Birte Kont, depicting when her husband underwent cancer treatment. The collection has received considerable praise in Denmark in its honest portrayal of what loved ones and close kin endure when a family member is diagnosed with cancer. The loved…
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The lady in red
Mary Liz OvercashGalveston, Texas, United States The long-term care facility was tucked in the back of a strip mall, behind restaurants and sporting goods stores, as if someone had hidden it away. As I wandered through the halls looking for my patient’s room, I didn’t see a single other person. I knocked softly on the…
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Plato’s and Bacon’s views on the role of medical care for chronic diseases
(Abstracted from the essay on Francis Bacon by Lord Macaulay) “To Plato, the science of medicine appeared to be of very disputable advantages. He did not indeed object to quick cures for acute disorders, or for injuries produced by accidents. But the art which resists the slow sap of a chronic disease had no share…
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Fear of being buried alive
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “Cremation eliminates all danger of being buried alive.”– “Short reasons for cremation,” an Australian pamphlet, c. 1900 It has been said that one of our most common fears is being buried alive.1 Someone is mistakenly thought dead, placed in a coffin, and buried. We will not discuss other forms of alive burials,…
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The sophia and phronesis of modern medicine
Meaghan O’ConnorDurham, North Carolina, United States My first clinical experience was working as a hospice aide my sophomore year of college. During that experience I watched my first patient suffer—physically and spiritually—and eventually die. Not bound by the time constraints of more formal medical settings, I was able to walk with my patient through her…
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Reclamation
Natalie PerlovPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Like many people, my first experience with death was losing a grandparent. I remember my parents organizing my late grandfather’s affairs, noting our religious practice of having as few people as possible touch the body before the burial. Our culture emphasizes community and togetherness in life, yet my grandfather died…