God Save the Queen
My favorite patient of all time has to be Fiona. I met her at Aurora. She started out as a patient on another unit, but was transferred to my unit because her behavior was too disruptive. She needed to...
View ArticleLife and Death
You get to learn a lots about these subjects when you’re a nurse, but one of the fair things about life is you don’t have to be a nurse to become familiar with either of them. You simply have more...
View ArticleTo Sleep, Perchance to Dream
I don’t know what the problem is, but I’ve been having trouble sleeping ever since I retired. It’s not like I have a lots of stuff on my mind. The two most pressing problems in my current life are,...
View ArticleProvince is not tracking hospitals opting out of assisted death, says...
Ontario is not keeping track of how many hospitals are opting out of medical assistance in dying, something that is adding to confusion around the issue, says the head of Dying With Dignity. Dying With...
View Article'Death with dignity' isn't just about easing end-of-life pain
Supporters of “death with dignity” have succeeded in legalizing what is also known as physician-aid-in-dying in five states in the U.S. by convincing voters, lawmakers and courts that terminally ill...
View ArticleMissing Mom
When you are feeling just a little under the weather or downright sick, we all want our moms at those times. I’m just like everyone else in that respect and in the last few days it has been extra...
View ArticleMore seeking medical aid to die than expected: Barrette
QUEBEC — Three times more Quebecers received medical aid to die in the past nine months than had been expected, said Health Minister Gaétan Barrette. The minister presented Quebec’s end-of-life care...
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Heart Broken
I don’t know if a person can truly die of a broken heart, but I suspect that every person who lives long enough, dies with a broken heart. Life will do that to you. The longer you live, the more loss...
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Out of Town Cremation Companies Take Advantage of Customers - Know the...
Out of Town Cremation Company Takes Advantage of Customers – Know the Difference! The following is a true story. You will read about one family’s experience that thousands of people across the country...
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"Welcome, Adversity"
I recently said good bye to Mimi Waring. On this occasion she was lying half in and half out of her bed, after a brush with extreme nausea lovingly cleared up by her husband Richard, and she was out...
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Update
Hi everyone, it’s been almost a couple of months since I last wrote on this blog, so thanks for your patience and also to the messages of support I have received. The main reason I haven’t done the...
View ArticleHow We Used to Die
An excellent piece I read a while ago and then lost the link before I had saved it. How do you handle elderly patients in cardiac arrest? Are these calls difficult for you? I often wonder if anyone has...
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Death Masks at Montoya Campus
Story and photos by Heather Hay A collection of some of the masks to be on display today. The death mask display draws a crowd of instructors in the faculty offices at Montoya campus. Jim Johnson,...
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The Sound of Rain
The Sound of Rain ©2016 Hope at paperheartdreams One of the best things about fall is the sound of rain. “I’ve worked up such hunger and thirst for God, traveling across dry and weary deserts. So here...
View ArticleCollective Blessings to the Ancestors
You loved ones in quiet graveyards of centuries and before, on twisty back roads nearly disappeared
View ArticleAutumn
This time of year brings a certain magic with it. Permission to play with our idea of ourselves in the costumes we choose to wear, dark introspective nights curled up by the hearth fire. Every walk I...
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TRANSITIONING
The reverse side of the Patriot CrucifixA crucifix designed for patriotic prayers of Catholic faithTHE PROCESS OF DYING IS THE BUSINESS OF THE CHURCH Last week, our neighborhood lost a grandmother who...
View ArticleDelight!
This afternoon, I entered Anthony’s nursing home room and his expression was of surprised delight. Nowadays, this is a bit of a novelty as he is often asleep. Anthony: Jules! I didn’t expect you so...
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Not Absolute
Off the cuff, with emotions locked. A dead-end street to which I only see defeat. Many ask…many greater and wiser than I. ‘When will the sadness end?’ To which, there has never been an absolute...
View ArticleThree from Hospice
The Spread – GN She’s slim, wearing silk pajamas, weak, purposeful, folding paper towels into precise fourths and setting them on the side of the sink. With the economy of the dying she weighs the need...
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