Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: End of Life

  • A dying patient’s perspective on truth-telling

    Shimon M. GlickBeer Sheva, Israel Mr. H, a 60-year-old farmer with liver metastases from a gastric carcinoma, had been in the hospital for quite some time. Jaundiced from his condition, he turned to one of the residents on rounds and said, “Several days ago, I asked you how much time I have to live, and…

  • Opening

    Shelley Schoepflin SandersPortland, OR, United States “Sure, I’ll take her ashes.” I heard my own voice from far away, but with real clarity I knew the decision was right. I know what to do with ashes. I will do something beautiful for Genevieve. The kind hospice nurse helped me finish signing Ginny’s Medicare benefits over…

  • Since I could not stop death, he kindly stopped for me

    Ruth DemingWillow Grove, Pennsylvania, United States Never were two sisters as close as Lori and I. It hardly mattered we were married and had our husbands, our passel of kids, and each earned a nice living at our jobs. Lori owned a string of nail salons in suburban Philadelphia called “Lorelei’s” while I was co-owner…

  • The good death

    Raeford E Brown, JrLexington, Kentucky, USA Physicians and nurses experience death all too often. We recognize the gray hue, the fetid odor, and chill of a body that has been failing for days or months. In hospital halls, we hurriedly pass families as they struggle to deal with the loss of their loved ones. In…

  • The god that I know

    Rae BrownLexington, Kentucky, USA When we start down the road toward medical school and residency, the idealists among us have a picture of the kind of physicians they will become. Our perception of the future rarely coincides with the reality that we often face. Ideally, principles that conflict with our own view of the world…

  • Time

    Paul RousseauCharleston, South Carolina, United States Selfishly, time is either too short or too long, the moment never appreciated. Mrs. Jones was a 69-year-old female with widely metastatic ovarian cancer, diagnosed during an emergency room visit for abdominal pain. After consultation with an oncologist, she elected to forgo chemotherapy and was referred for palliative care.…

  • Sparing the living

    P. Ravi ShankarLalitpur, Nepal Krishna was dead. I was relaxing on the porch of my quarters next to the primary health center when Krishna’s relatives brought me the news of his demise. Though I was sad, I also felt a sense of relief. Krishna belonged to a poor family of agricultural workers eking out a…

  • Defining Death in Whose Life is it Anyway?

    Morven Cook United Kingdom Death itself is a social construct, and in a pluralistic society such as ours, a conclusive definition of death, or determination of the moment of death, is out of reach of both medical science and philosophy.1 Brian Clark’s Whose Life is it Anyway? is a play that tells the story of Ken,…

  • Do (Not) Attempt

    Mary PanSeattle, Washington, United States I hovered over the patient, looking at him for the first time. It was then I realized he was dead. Lifeless. Pallor without a hint of blush, tubes protruding out of each orifice. This realization stretched out beyond and before me. I was eager and horrified and mesmerized. I was…

  • My tragedy in retrospect

    Mary OsborneChicago, Illinois, United States From a scaffold, neck craned, Michelangelo Buonarroti painted scenes from the book of Genesis, prophets, and sibyls upon the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Considering himself a sculptor, he wanted no part of the assignment, but one did not decline a commission from the Pope. Wishing all the while to…