Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: hospice

  • They would rather go alone

    Kera MorrisDenver, Colorado, USA Dad had been in and out of hospice for years. It had not occurred to me that you could go into hospice and come out on your own two feet, but it was apparently the case. When I got the last call about Dad having an episode and needing to go…

  • Why not let her go gently into that good night?

    Victoria LimIowa City, Iowa, United States One early morning I was paged to see an eighty-five-year-old patient in the dialysis unit with low blood pressure. I learned that she had diabetes, hypertension, and diffuse atherosclerosis. In the past decade she had undergone four major surgeries for blocked arteries and had suffered two strokes. For the…

  • Poppy power

    John Graham-PoleGainesville, Florida, United States The poppy’s juice . . .brings the sleep to dear Mama— Sara Coleridge, Pretty Lessons in Verse for Good Children In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree— Samuel Coleridge, Kubla Khan, penned on waking from an opium-induced dream Of all God’s floral bounty, only papaver somnifera drips its beads…

  • A love story

    Kate RowlandChicago, Illinois, United States “Is that her partner in there with her?” Ankita, a second-year resident, and I had just finished seeing a new patient, Marian. Marian’s detailed problem list had required an equally detailed visit, and Ankita had addressed her urgent issues: uncontrolled diabetes, cirrhosis, and stage 3 congestive heart failure. As a…

  • Psychosocial—Hospice house

    Jim GustafsonFort Myers, Florida, USA Poet’s statement “Hospice House” reflects on a time recently spent in the lobby of our local hospice facility, as I visited with a good friend named Wilma. “Psychosocial” reflects on the most recent events of Wilma’s life as she, who very much hates to fly, flew to visit her daughter. Upon…

  • Where is the dignity in death?

    Therese KwiatkowskiChicago, Illinois, USA In my experience, the end of life is neither peaceful nor dignified. I wish I had been told that death is hard work for both the patient and the loved one. I did not expect that losing my mother would be easy. I had read books about impending death and had asked…

  • 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.…

  • Kiran

    Katherine ArnupOttawa, Canada “We have a new man in Room 7,” the hospice co-ordinator explained in our morning briefing. “He’s 76, Indian, and very private. And he doesn’t like appellations.” “Appellations?” “You know, like ‘sweetie’, or ‘dear’. He doesn’t really like that sort of thing,” the coordinator explained. “Who would do that?” I asked, incredulous.…

  • 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…

  • 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,…