Here is a poignant piece of memoir from today's NYTimes . . . What Broke My Father's Heart. Having just experienced Theater of War's readings from two Greek plays on end-of-life issues, this story provides a reverberating echo - do we, should we, may we control our deaths? . . . our living seems to have become so medicalized, is there a way off the merry-go-round at the end?
I have left specific directions for my children in this regard . . . have you?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/magazine/20pacemaker-t.html?th&emc=th
Happy Father's Day to all of those biological, emotional, spiritual Dads out there. And many thanks to the Father above who providentially cares for us all . . .
Carol
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That New York Times article shows how badly wrong modern medicine has gone.
ReplyDeleteFor many people, hospice care would be much better than mechanically prolonged suffering.
We can thank the GOP members of Congress and their Faux News/Tea Party allies for their lies and distortions about "death panels."
Jim Purdy
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Hi there,
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that there's a little glimmer of hope! Some nursing homes around the country are providing "slow medicine".
Grounded in research at the Dartmouth Medical School, slow medicine encourages physicians to put on the brakes when considering care that may have high risks and limited rewards for the elderly, and it educates patients and families how to push back against emergency room trips and hospitalizations designed for those with treatable illnesses, not the inevitable erosion of advanced age.
Here's a NYT article about a retirement community in Hanover, NH that champions slow medicine.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/health/05slow.html#
Best,
Aka
I read NYTimes everyday at my essay uk company and heard nothing about this article, so weird.. But anyway, good questions you ask here, I need to think a little more to answer them)
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