How Long?

In looking at medical futility, one of the real difficulties is the lack of prognostic certainty. No one knows for certain how long a seriously ill loved one has left. So families struggle with balancing the decision to proceed with one more treatment option to prolong a life that may be imminently passing or to stop perhaps too soon. How much time does my loved one have left? How long will I have my loved one still with me?

A New York Times piece today reports on the medical community's attempts to come to more certainty in assessing a patient's time left and that is a good thing.

To live life fully and to say our goodbyes, it can help to have a better sense of "How Long" . . . and to know what are the best things to do in the meantime.