Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: hospice

  • Room 460

    Megan RizerGainesville, Florida, United States Every time I walked by Mr. L’s hospital room, I heard the Game Show Network blasting on television. The Price is Right, Press Your Luck, Wheel of Fortune—some rerun of an old game show was always on. I had been helping to take care of him for several weeks, rounding…

  • Medicalization of death and dying: Room for growth in end-of-life care

    Rose ParisiAlbany, New York, United States In recent years, the way in which Americans cope with death and dying has evolved considerably and become institutionalized and over-medicalized. Whereas over time people have died in their homes, untethered to wires and machinery, modern medicine has turned people into patients and handed them over to medical professionals…

  • Allowing my death—a delusory end-of-life decision

    Wolfgang LedererInnsbruck, Austria Together with the gift of life, I have received its finiteness, its perishability. As death is inescapable, when might I allow my life to end? Certainly, my life expectancy has to be longer than average, and I demand good physical and mental health right down to the last minute. Furthermore, my life…

  • Piano lessons

    James StemmleWest Virginia, United States The piano teacher was angry, irritable, incontinent, and in pain. Dying of cancer, she eventually went home with hospice care. The hospice lady asked, “What would a good day look like?” They rigged things in her home to live at least one good day: a bed on the first floor…

  • The unsung heroes

    Julia AngkeowBel Air, Maryland, United States The unsung heroes of hospice are the family members and friends who are there to console their loved ones when all others have gone to bed. They are the ones who never rest, constantly brooding over how to best mitigate their loved ones’ pain, and ensure that their final…

  • Covid cascade killed my father

    Helen MeldrumWaltham, Maine, United States My father died last year from what I call “Covid cascade,” a series of unforeseen consequences that ensue when Covid-19 breaks out in a healthcare facility. My father did not have the virus at the time he died—in fact, he tested negative three times. I write this hoping it will…

  • One chaplain’s journey: Teaching, hospice, and humanities

    Terry McIntyreForest Park, Illinois, United States Auburn University was an easy choice for a graduate student with two preschool youngsters. Teaching medieval literature was the draw. Later, a divorce necessitated working as a project manager in sub-contracting. When the Lutheran campus pastor in Ann Arbor wanted me on the property committee, I declined. Instead, I…

  • The good shepherd

    Pallavi TatapudySouth Kortright, New York, USA “You have arrived.” The Google Maps navigator tells me I have reached my destination. I look around, doubting if indeed this is the right location. This looks like a vibrant suburban neighborhood with life all around and surely not what I imagined. There is no external sign that a…

  • Ushers of life

    Genevieve KupskyWashington, D.C., USA “You are on holy ground. Time is sacred, and the veil is thin.” The chaplain left the newly-oriented volunteers with these words as we completed our training. My mind was spinning with the implications of this experience. Each patient we interacted with would have a prognosis of six months to live…

  • The book that galvanized a health care transformation

    Sherrie DulworthNew York, United States One of the major health care sea changes of the past half-century did not originate from the usual sources of scientific research, technological development, or even clinical trial-and-error. Instead, a book written for a general audience galvanized a health care transformation. While the cultural revolution of the 1960’s had ushered…