Myth of the Peaceful Death

Did you hear the palliative medicine fable that every single symptom for every minute of the day can be "taken care of"/Managed? Oh, sure you have. We know the world does not work like that, not the imperfect world we know, but want to believe in the myth. Connotations of a quote Good Death = … Continue reading Myth of the Peaceful Death →

Dying, Procrastinating, and Other Provocations

What, contemplating mortality again? Oh, please. Leave that to the sad Ancients. They had no internet, TV, 24/7 ramen delivery. Consider their literature? Come on, no one outside of Academia is reading Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, Plutarch, or even secondhand sources like Montaigne. Could you imagine something from Marcus Aurelius in an election mailer? Political Trash … Continue reading Dying, Procrastinating, and Other Provocations →

Credo

After three years writing here, it's time I took stock of what is taking shape on this blog. Just who is writing these posts, you might wonder. After 80 essays, I'm still anonymous. I'm a Chicago born, suburban raised, Catholic boy from a large family and many neighbors. Sustained interests in religion, psychology and poetry … Continue reading Credo →

Part 2: Prognostic Indicators of Specific Diagnoses

I've got your diagnosis right here, buddy. It's on your permanent record. Chicky thinks his Diagnosis is a frame job First, what qualifies us for hospice? What are the Criteria, or General Guidelines, for being hospice certified and recertification? Above all, the patient should be exhibiting a "terminal condition" based either on that big fat … Continue reading Part 2: Prognostic Indicators of Specific Diagnoses →

Death Prophets and Prognostics

In these greedy and distracted times, doesn't chasing after our personal profits and fun run us further along the way of high-risk gambling on weather-caused collapse? We know where we're headed, know what's coming. Like putting off dieting, our final acts of reconciliation defer to another round of golf, or chemotherapy, or perhaps we'd rather … Continue reading Death Prophets and Prognostics →

Caregiver Training: Because Things Change Without (Much) Warning

So, you want to take home your spouse, your partner, your child from the hospital, the rehab, the skilled nursing care facility. Wherever they are, sure there's no place like home. At first everyone's mood is buoyed -- the transfer went without incident; the mechanical bed and over-bed table is ready for them as you … Continue reading Caregiver Training: Because Things Change Without (Much) Warning →

Dying Is Irritating

Why are the dying in such foul moods sometimes? Why the moodiness when you say you're not in pain, Mr. Hospice? Is it a pain you don't know how to talk about? Well, I can say this: For those not fully invested in their consciousness being transferred to some sweet hereafter, it's irritating when we're … Continue reading Dying Is Irritating →

Terminal Agitation: It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Dying)

It's typically called a Change of Condition in the medical world, a coded phrase said up front during the *SBAR call to the doctor, meaning "Situation here is...well, changed". Residential care custodians use the term, vague as it is, despite having nothing much more accurate to describe than that the patient looks "not right". Sometimes … Continue reading Terminal Agitation: It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Dying) →

On Merit: One Approach to a “Good Death”

During my 7th grade at St. Eulalia Catholic school, a former student named Dave asked to come talk to us about his faith. Before that morning all I remember of him was how I wished that his sister, whom I never talked to, would be my girlfriend. The nun let him talk and play guitar … Continue reading On Merit: One Approach to a “Good Death” →

Euphemisms

Every day we face challenges letting go of something. In these hoarding, COVID19 pandemic times, are we ready to let go of anything? If we name something, acknowledge it, that's not necessarily painful, but in our imagination of it, it's painful. Pain of perception: "We close our minds to many difficulties because of the painful … Continue reading Euphemisms →