Tag: End of Life
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The fallen leaf
Chang-Wuk KangBaltimore, Maryland, United States As a consulting psychiatrist, my job is fairly straightforward. Often questions involve determining the appropriate DSM-IV diagnosis or medication to calm an agitated patient. However, this day I was asked to see a 42-year-old woman, and the only reason given for the consult was, “the patient is dying from end-stage…
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Living well before we die
Caroline WellberyWashington DC, United States Imagine having a passion for dying. Imagine 1,500 doctors and nurses at their annual meeting, gathering to support each other in that passion. These men and women are America’s hospice workers, and their conference is sponsored by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). In the hotel elevator,…
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Death, a part of life
Carole A. Travis-HenikoffChicago, Illinois, United States The subject of death is by its very nature a personal thing. Woody Allen said he didn’t mind dying; he just didn’t want to be there when it happened. Most of us feel the same way. Death frightens us in proportion to our systems of belief formed through societal…
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Death as it should be
Anthony PapagiannisThessaloniki, Greece I had never talked with my father about his death. Even though he had had numerous and regular transactions with medicine since my penultimate year in medical school, he never touched this particular subject and I would not be the one to bring it up. Despite my training and professional involvement with…
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Three Visits
Anthony PapagiannisThessaloniki, Greece Prelude She rings at the recommendation of a colleague who knows my interest in lung cancer and palliative care. “It is about my father, doctor.” I suggest that she brings me his films and tests for a briefing before I get to meet him. We arrange an appointment, and she comes with…
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Blind date
Anthony PapagiannisThessaloniki, Greece “And who has sent you to me?” Working as a private consulting pulmonologist in a healthcare system where referral letters are virtually nonexistent, I always ask new patients to tell me who sent them—a social engagement routine before we get into purely medical matters. It works as an informal survey of the…
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A changing view of death
Amber MillsAnthea GellieMichele LevinsonMalvern, Australia We sit at a phase in human development when life expectancy is greater than ever before. In classical Rome life expectancy was a mere 28 years for an adult, in Medieval Britain it had risen slightly to 30 years, and by the early 20th century 31 years. These figures were…
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Bill’s legacy
Adam O. GoldsteinNorth Carolina, USA Details have been changed to protect patient confidentiality. Bill, a dentist and a patient of mine, died in his sleep at age 52. I did not know Bill as well as many patients, as we had only seen each other four times over five months, and he had few apparent…
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Campaigning for Craig: The healing power of a legacy T-shirt
Nancy GershmanChicago, Illinois, United States Sometimes the elephant in the room is a painful irony, like the story of Craig, a 25-year-old flying instructor who died in his aircraft. As parents we think, “Oh, if only we’d talked him out of flying lessons!” But as bereavement professionals, we see both sides: a young adult doing…