Dear Judy
You’ll think this strange. I’m in good health give or take a little PMS. My husband, though, had testicular cancer in his early 20’s. He’s okay, has been for 24 long years, but any mention of disease or the even bigger D really spooks him.
And I guess maybe I think about his former condition and [...]
Dear Judy,
I am a hospice volunteer (novice). When I sit with some of the terminally ill, I sometimes read them the poem about a ship sailing from one shore to another shore: on the second shore there are a lot of people greeting this ship. It seems to be a source of comfort to them.
My [...]
Dear Judy,
My mother is dying of breast cancer. This is her third bout, and on top of it she has emphysema and COPD from 40 years of smoking. She is living with me until she passes.
When she was first diagnosed she had a doomsday attitude, twisting every word the doctors told her. For instance, telling [...]
Dear Judy,
I know you’re always going on and on about how wonderful hospices are, but the one where I work isn’t. I’m not a nurse or a doctor. I do the grunt work. I make beds, and move patients to make them more comfortable, carry in breakfast trays, and carry out stuff I won’t mention.
The [...]
I know. Switching doctors is about the last thing you want to do when you’re seriously ill. You’re weak, you’re scared, and you’re short of time. Also, how do you know the next physician will be an improvement?
So it’s not a task you should undertake if your grievances are minor — and by “minor” I [...]
Since I volunteer at the Community Hospice of Washington, most people assume I’m a particular fan of hospice care. And in many ways I am.
Hospices aren’t the dreary, depressing places a lot of them used to be. The in-patient units are great at relieving pain with super-charged meds. Home care patients are relieved to have [...]
Welcome to theCheckoutLine.org
Posted on January 24th, 2009