MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'death and dying'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:24:20 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086262&cid=t_355799_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F07%2F30%2Fthe-new-grief-how-modern-medicine-has-transformed-death-and-grief%2F The realities of death and dying have changed profoundly in a relatively short period of time. Why? Thank the ongoing and remarkable advances in medical diagnosis and treatment. As a result of these advances, life expectancy in countries like ours continues to grow. We all die, but modern medicine is getting better and better at staving off death. And because of this the nature of grief has changed. In her groundbreaking 1970 book, On Death and Dying, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross identified a process which she believed individuals pass through when they are confronted with death. At the time, sudden and unexpected death was much more common than it is today. The grief associated with that kind of loss is captured powerfully in Joan Didion’s memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking, which recounts ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086262 Sat, 30 Jul 2011 13:44:25 +0100 5086262 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872187&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fride-of-lifetime.html Over the last six or seven months or so, mortality, health and illness have played a significant role in my personal life, and led to many musings about these weighty and universal subjects.On Thanksgiving Day of last year, my father was hospitalized for a mysterious set of symptoms that left him bouncing between the hospital, a rehab facility and a nursing home for the better part of two months, his life a combination of miseries that brought him to the very edge of his tolerance of discomfort and physical and emotional exhaustion. Luckily for him, he has greatly improved, and while some symptoms persist, he is now happy to be home and relatively independent at the age of 82.Two months ago, a rather garden variety respiratory infection sent my wife to the local hospital (on our moving day... Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872187 Thu, 26 May 2011 11:56:00 +0100 4872187 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4794953&cid=t_355799_129_f&fid=36035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-chronic-pain%2Fgreed-grief-and-the-choices-of-a-lifetime%2F As most of you already know, my daughter, Beth and I have just returned from a working trip to the high desert region of California. My sweet mother-in-law passed away last May and due to other family matters it has taken us a year to make it down there to clean out her home. The weather is also a factor because I cannot tolerate heat or sun. When we left home it was drizzling here in beautiful, green yet soggy Oregon. The contrast to the high desert is startling. Yucca trees, a few evergreens and lots of brown greeted us. It was also 90 degrees. I got out the sunscreen but still have many fever blisters. You all know I have trouble sitting, and had to go to the hotel and just lie down after the trip. We had drawn row 12 on our small commuter plane and got stuck right in front of the emerg... Life with Chronic Pain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4794953 Fri, 06 May 2011 20:36:00 +0100 4794953 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4450292&cid=t_355799_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fend-of-life-care-when-medicine-prolongs-dying-not-living%2F2011.02.08 The recent Washington Post article entitled, Who decides when medicine prolongs dying, not living? perfectly captures my earlier blog on why we’re afraid of death. An excerpt from the Post piece: [There's a] huge gap between Americans’ wishes about end-of-life care, as expressed in numerous public opinion polls, and what actually happens in too many instances–futile, expensive, often painful procedures performed on people too sick to leave the hospital alive–much less survive with a decent quality of life. Ninety percent of Americans say they want to die at home but only 20 percent do so. Half of Americans die in hospitals and another 25 percent in nursing homes, after a long period of suffering from chronic, incurable conditions that finally become untreatable. An ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4450292 Tue, 08 Feb 2011 20:00:00 +0100 4450292 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4399528&cid=t_355799_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fend-of-life-planning-makes-it-easier-to-say-goodbye%2F2011.01.25 This is a guest post by Dr. Barbara Okun and Dr. Joseph Nowinski. *********** End-Of-Life Planning Makes It Easier To Say Goodbye Saying goodbye as the end of life approaches can be difficult, even for those with a gift for words. In a moving account in a recent issue of The New Yorker, writer Joyce Carol Oates describes the last week of her 49-year marriage, as her husband was dying from complications of pneumonia. Like A Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion’s poignant memoir of her husband’s sudden death and its aftermath, Oates’ essay highlights the need for each of us to think about death and dying — and discuss them with loved ones — long before they become a likelihood. In our work with individuals and families facing death, we have seen too many people miss the op... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4399528 Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:00:02 +0100 4399528 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4377681&cid=t_355799_129_f&fid=36035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-chronic-pain%2Fthe-circle-of-life-and-the-grieving-process%2F I realize I may sound like a cartoon or Elton John, but the Circle of Life is very real for all of us mere mortals. The simplistic approach may offend many self-proclaimed sophisticated adults, but life is truly just that simple. We’re born, we live, we wear out or run into trouble, and then we die. If you have not been touched by this circle, experiencing birth and death within the last year, then you are probably overdue. The joys of birth, the gut-wrenching pain of death, and all that happens in between represent this experience called life. Like the filling in a sandwich cookie, that “in between” is the most important part. I’ve never known anyone to scrape out the filling of an Oreo and toss it out just to eat the crispy cookie, have you? We are each of stuck with the whole co... Life with Chronic Pain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4377681 Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:44:28 +0100 4377681 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4245431&cid=t_355799_129_f&fid=36035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-chronic-pain%2Fdo-you-feel-more-like-scrooge-or-santa%2F This grandma feels like she got run over by a reindeer. I realize that isn’t possible because they’re all at the North Pole, or grazing in Lapland, but that’s what it feels like and I think I saw a hoof print on my forehead late last night. It might be payback for eating reindeer meat when we were in Finland about ten years ago. I did swallow, but I didn’t like it. Doesn’t that count? I do hope Santa forgives me and all those Finns and Laps who eat it all the time. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Rudolph or anyone we know. It’s a funny thing about the holidays how they run all over us, like reindeer run amok, whether we enjoy them or not so why not try to get into the spirit of the season? This year is a difficult one for my family because of a family member who is direly ill but... Life with Chronic Pain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4245431 Thu, 09 Dec 2010 22:10:37 +0100 4245431 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4179412&cid=t_355799_129_f&fid=36035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-chronic-pain%2Fsearching-for-thanksgiving%2F As children we’re taught the basics. We’re told to say, “Thank you,” when someone gives us a gift, whether or not we like it. We’re taught the magic word, “Please.” We also learn when we’re young not to wander into the street without looking both ways. Oh my, childhood is so full of dos and don’ts, as we are taught to become civil individuals, isn’t it? We learn so much about life that is basic to our knowledge to survive in this world. Day-to-day life was full of routine, learning, discipline, and friendships. The times that shine the brightest, however, are the holidays. Families dressed in their finest, the odors of fine food, and the joys of seeing faces you didn’t often see. The feeling of family love was and is wonderful. I know we all have many memories of Than... Life with Chronic Pain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4179412 Thu, 18 Nov 2010 21:53:55 +0100 4179412 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4134030&cid=t_355799_129_f&fid=36035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-chronic-pain%2Funderstanding-death-while-we-live-with-chronic-pain%2F Today, dear friends, for some unknown reason, I feel compelled to share a story with you. Perhaps, it is because we are going through a loss in our family with the terminal cancer of the other grandma and I have final days on my mind and heart. Grab your tissues and let me tell you about a very special woman I took care of many years ago. As I opened the door to her hospital room, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Having reviewed her chart, I knew she was only 39 years old and she was dying of cancer. Breast cancer, diagnosed and discovered two years before, had metastasized to many other areas of her body; she had tumors behind her corneas in both eyes, partially affecting her eyesight. She was in the hospital when I first met her to have those tumors irradiated. She was also receiving chem... Life with Chronic Pain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4134030 Thu, 04 Nov 2010 22:10:47 +0100 4134030 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3969064&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F09%2Fashes-to-ashes.html Cruising into the office after seeing a few patients for home evaluations, I walk into my supervisor's office to pick up some documents from the printer. On her desk, there is a white cardboard box with printing on the top, and I immediately know what it contains: ashes, or what is known euphemistically in the funeral industry as "cremains".Stopping in my tracks, I approach the box, my mind flashing back to the day when I picked up my step-father's ashes from the funeral home, overwhelmed by the fact that his 72-inch tall body weighing 180 pounds in his prime was now reduced to a box of detritus weighing in at less than 10 pounds. I recall driving home with that box in the passenger seat of my car as I cried in relief for the end of his suffering, despite the surreal notion that all that w... Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3969064 Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:24:00 +0100 3969064 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3872619&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F08%2Fof-birthdays-and-death.html Celebrating my 46th birthday this week has been a wonderful exercise in being grateful for all of my blessings, and the need to take grateful stock of my life is underscored by the persistent presence of sickness and death that is such an intrinsic part of human existence.As a nurse, I have worked with the dying and the chronically ill for many years, and their struggles are a reminder that our hold on this mortal coil is tenuous, at best. Several years ago, my wife and I spent about three weeks living at my mother's house in New Jersey, caring for my step-father as his body slowly diminished in its power and presence at the hands of pancreatic cancer. Presiding over his dying process and his death was a powerful and moving experience, and despite my many years of nursing, his was the firs... Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3872619 Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:25:00 +0100 3872619 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3629710&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F06%2Fhospice-on-blackdoctororg.html I recently wrote an informational article on hospice for BlackDoctor.org, and that article is now published. You can read it by clicking here. (Source: Digital Doorway) Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3629710 Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:37:00 +0100 3629710 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2712204&cid=t_355799_115_f&fid=37661&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnottotallyrad.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F08%2Fdead-on-anatomic-art.html This smoking shelter is located on the campus of a local community college. I love the artwork... (Source: Not Totally Rad) Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2712204 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:28:00 +0100 2712204 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2306957&cid=t_355799_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F03%2Flast-great-act-of-living-or-how-my-dad.html The always wonderful Canadian bioethicist Margarette Somerville has a terrific and thoughtful article about dying, disability, and the great meaning that can be found in these times of difficulty. It's a long piece and I can't do justice to it--for that you will have to read it for yourselves. But we can present the gist as an appetizer.She first identifies one of the driving forces behind the euthanasia movement. From her column:Euthanasia allows people to feel that although they can't avoid death, they can control its manner, time and place. It's a terror reduction or terror control mechanism that operates at both the individual and societal level. So if we believe legalizing euthanasia would be a very bad idea, we need to develop and communicate other ways to deal with our fear of death... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2306957 Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:14:00 +0100 2306957 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2194861&cid=t_355799_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2009%2F02%2F16%2Fand-the-winner-of-the-path-dvd-giveaway-is%2F The winner of The Path DVD giveaway is…   Tobey Congratulations Tobey. You will be receiving an email shortly with instructions on how to claim your prize. The Path DVD, if you remember, is the first in a series of documentaries that are being created by Michael Habernig and April Hannah of Path11 Productions, who interviewed 13 individuals - well renowned authors, practitioners and well respected local practitioners in Upstate New York - who offer their their expertise on their own souls path, what they have learned along the way and their knowledge about the afterlife. You can find out more about this interesting documentary by… 1. Checking out the film’s official website - www.thepathseries.com - where you can buy a copy of the DVD. 2. Heading over to facebook or mysp... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2194861 Tue, 17 Feb 2009 05:47:09 +0100 2194861 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2187702&cid=t_355799_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2009%2F02%2F12%2Fstill-time-to-enter-the-path-dvd-giveaway%2F Earlier in the month I asked ‘Where Do You Go When You Die?’ It’s not exactly a light question but the reason I brought it up was because I had just run across a new documentary called The Path which was due to released mid Febuary and I had arranged for a DVD giveaway for Healthbolt readers. I haven’t seen the DVD yet but the trailer gives the impression that it would definitely be worth checking out. See for yourself… The Path DVD giveaway is being extended until the 14th of February. So go and check it out and then leave a comment over at Where Do You Go When You Die? Tags: death and dying, The Path, The Path documentary, The Path DVD, what happens after you die, where do you go when you dieShare This (Source: Healthbolt) Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2187702 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:29:44 +0100 2187702 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1888629&cid=t_355799_115_f&fid=37661&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnottotallyrad.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F10%2Falways-doctor-even-in-dying-of-light.html Medical skill is not commonly associated with writing ability. For that reason, it's always great to find physicians who not only break that stereotype but smash it to pieces. I'd like to recommend Always a Doctor, Even in the Dying of the Light by Kenneth Weinberg, M.D., an emergency room physician who just wrote about the death of his radiologist father in the New York Times.I don’t know how he stayed alive so long with blood counts that I, as an emergency physician, associate only with patients at the edge of death; I don’t know why his blood felt cold; and most of all, I don’t know why his dying brought no tears to my eyes.Was it because after his memorial service, determined to celebrate his life, my brothers and I bought Champagne — and then, at my mother’s request, went in... Not Totally Rad blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1888629 Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:03:00 +0100 1888629 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1234604&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F02%2Fdiving-bell-and-butterfly-lesson-in.html On occasion I am profoundly moved by a film or a movie which actually causes me to look at life differently. These moments are few and far between in actuality, but last night on a Valentine's date, my wife Mary and I experienced the profundity of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly in all of its cinematic glory. It is very rare for me to walk out of a movie theatre and feel that what I've just seen has changed me in a dramatic way, and this experience was certainly of that caliber.For those of you as yet unfamiliar with the story, the film is an adaptation of the book by the same title which was written by Jean Dominique Bauby, a former publisher of Elle Magazine who experienced a massive stroke in the prime of life. Bauby was diagnosed with Locked-In Syndrome, a condition in which the affl... Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1234604 Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:30:00 +0100 1234604 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=985816&cid=t_355799_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F10%2F28%2Fmore-sick-children-are-dying-at-home-at-that-is-a-good-thing.html by Pat SalberIt is always unbearably sad to learn about a child's death.  But for families with children living with complex chronic conditions, such as progressive neuromuscular diseases or cancer, it is something they must be prepared to deal with.   The miracles of modern medicine simply cannot cure every serious childhood illness.  Given that, what do we know about where these children die?  A recent study, led by Chris Feudtner, MD, PhD, MPH and colleagues, published in JAMA (June 27, 2007) documented that increasingly these children are dying at home instead of in the hospital - and I believe that is a good thing, allowing both the child and loved ones the comfort and privacy we all want to have at the end of life.  Advances in techno... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=985816 Sun, 28 Oct 2007 18:56:32 +0100 985816 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=853440&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Funiverse-of-grieving.html And now the grief settles into our bones. Mary and I have been complaining today of profound aches and pains, an experience which my sister shares. Our muscles are like stones which have lost the long-ago suppleness of soil. Our joints ache and creak like wintry tree limbs. We move through a syrup of feeling, even as we unpack the car, wash clothes, and attempt to resume "normal" life following the experience of a death.Today we avoided a neighborhood picnic, lacking all motivation for superficial conversation and pleasantries. At the supermarket, we ducked in order to not encounter someone who we knew would only drain us with her narcissism. Tomorrow, I work from home, and Mary enjoys one more day of bereavement leave. Tuesday, we re-enter the proverbial rat-race, even as we continue to f... Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=853440 Sun, 09 Sep 2007 23:41:00 +0100 853440 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=852090&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Fashes-to-ashes.html This afternoon, I went to the funeral home and picked up my step-father's ashes. A small, compact container wrapped tightly in cardboard and sealed with official notification of its contents weighed heavily in my arms as I carried it down the steps.Once in my car, I sat in the driver's seat and hugged that box to my chest, breathing quietly, feeling its weight in my lap. When I was ready, I placed the box gingerly on the passenger seat, and began to drive back towards my mother's house, where I would deliver her beloved husband's remains into her trembling hands. During that ride, I rested my right hand on top of the little box, just as I might rest my hand on my son's shoulder.About half-way home, I realized that I was carefully avoiding bumps and pot-holes, gingerly taking turns, as if a... Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=852090 Sat, 08 Sep 2007 03:43:00 +0100 852090 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=841652&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Funfolding-days-of-mourning.html When someone dies, we take a breath and realize that a new chapter has begun. Where before we cleaned the commode and wiped a sweaty brow, now we sift through memories and personal effects. Where before we concerned ourselves with medications and symptoms, now we examine legal necessities and paperwork. While our loved one was living while dying, we were also living through their dying process, slowly letting go of the old earthly relationship as we opened to a less corporeal connection which loomed large in our future. As our loved one's eyes began to focus beyond us in their softening gaze, we looked more and more closely for the subtle changes that might portend the end being near.Once the body has been removed from the home and the hospital bed and other equipment as well, one must tak... Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=841652 Wed, 05 Sep 2007 01:33:00 +0100 841652 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=838783&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Fdeaths-labor-pains-on-labor-day.html Today at 4:10pm, my beloved step-father left this world as we surrounded his bed to witness his final breaths. As he moved through the stages of the dying process over the last 48 hours, I became more and more certain that the end was drawing ever closer, perhaps more rapidly than I originally surmised it might. His struggle to allow his spirit to leave his body was truly like labor, and we were the midwives and cheerleaders along his triumphant road to freedom.Just as it happens around the world at every hour under the sun, people came and went from my parents' home over these last days, and we all played our parts in the unfolding drama according to our individual roles and skills. My step-father's lovely daughters, sons-in-law, granddaughter, and great-grandchildren all added to the qua... Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=838783 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 02:25:00 +0100 838783 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=836846&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Fsparkeys-anniversary-thoughts.html I just posted this on Latter Day Sparks and decided to also post it here. Thanks for stopping by.Today, September 2nd, 2007, at approximately 1pm, Sparkey will be dead one year. His body still rests in the earth just beside our house, but his spirit body moves in an entirely different dimension.Even as we celebrate his life and honor the 12-month anniversary of his passing, we sit vigil here in New Jersey, comforting my beloved step-father as he moves into the final stages of the dying process himself. The details of Sparkey's passage are fresh in my mind, and at this time (10am) on September 2nd of last year, we were enjoying what we knew would be our final morning and afternoon on earth with our wonderful canine companion. It was a day of final events: the last walk, the last meal, the f... Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=836846 Sun, 02 Sep 2007 14:43:00 +0100 836846 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=835422&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Fwine-and-roses.html A week lapse in blogging due to extenuating circumstances, caring for a dying parent. Stranded in suburban purgatory without internet connection or any of my usual anchors.Death comes slowly and inexorably. We all die in increments. From the day we are born we are moment by moment closer to the time of our death.And what does this proximity to death mean? What does it portend?I feel that it portends our deeply held need to live even more fully and to forgive those who have trespassed against us, for those days of wine and roses are altogether too fleeting. (Source: Digital Doorway) Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=835422 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 17:33:00 +0100 835422 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=819504&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Fdeath-circles-wagons.html When Death begins to circle its wagonsdrawing ever tighter circlesaround our dying loved onewe circle our wagons as welldrawing on previously untapped emotional and physical reserves.Never did we thinkthat we could do what we are now doing.Never could we picture the compromises, the sacrifices,the emotional stretching that we would need to endure.Never did we consider how Death---so patient----would slowly and inexorably remove our loved one from our midst,allowing us an intimate view of how Death begins to take our loved oneeven while he is still breathing before our very eyes.Wait, watchListen and breath.Death may be cruel, Death may be kindbut Death is eventually our final friend in life;taking us to the hereafterwhen our personal Sun has set.We watch the wagons circle, helplesspoised f... Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=819504 Fri, 24 Aug 2007 11:37:00 +0100 819504 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=809557&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Fwhirlwind-weekends.html A string of whirlwind weekends---and the impending death of my step-father---have been generally impeding my ability to blog as consistently as I would like. Regular readers will also notice that death, dying and the grieving process have also made themselves quite visible in recent writings. When faced with the mortality of a loved one, one's own mortality also indeed comes to the fore.Gyalse Rinpoche has said: "Planning for the future is like going fishing in a dry gulch; nothing ever works out as you wanted, so give up all your schemes and ambitions. If you have got to think about something—make it the uncertainty of the hour of your death."The above is interesting advice at such a transitional time in life, when the stability, well-being and future of family structure is in question.... Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=809557 Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:36:00 +0100 809557 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=804381&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Fbirthday-ruminations-life-death-and-in.html Today is my 43rd birthday, and I am working from home, spending some quiet time with Tina the Dog and a hammock. Calls and emails come in from time to time. Lawnmowers and other daytime neighborhood comings and goings fill the air.Even as life continues on its usual trajectory, death lurks in the shadows. We really do spend a great deal of our time ignoring death, avoiding death, trying to beat Death at his own game. Movies portray death in many guises: as the demise of a self-destructive addict, the heroic death of a firefighter, the needless accidental death of a child, the tragic death of hundreds due to natural disasters, wars, famine, and genocide. The media bring us news of death daily as famous celebrities die, dozens of people are slaughtered by car bombs in Baghdad, or bridges and... Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=804381 Wed, 15 Aug 2007 16:55:00 +0100 804381 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=794186&cid=t_355799_111_f&fid=34712&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaldoorway.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Fcaring-for-dying.html When a loved one is in the (relatively slow) process of dying from a terminal illness, we can often lose ourselves in the minutiae of care-giving, ignoring our own needs vis-a-vis the grieving process. When someone is living at home and facing death with family at their side, those family members providing emotional and physical support can be consumed by the needs of the dying person, consequently being potentially cut off from their own feelings and the need to grieve and mourn an imminent loss.Finessing the end of a life is a subtle emotional process for all involved. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross had very specific ideas about the "stages" of grieving and loss which radically changed the global conversation about death and dying. Stephen and Ondrea Levine also offer a unique spiritual perspecti... Digital Doorway blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=794186 Sun, 12 Aug 2007 13:43:00 +0100 794186