Walking in Circles

Walking in Circles

End of Life, Overwhelm, Uncategorized

My father’s death was a whirlwind, just two weeks from diagnosis to death. That’s how it was with his pancreatic cancer. My mother’s death was very different. She had vascular dementia, and when she died, it was the culmination of months of not...
What My Dad’s Death Taught Me About Dying

What My Dad’s Death Taught Me About Dying

End of Life

Three years ago, my father and I rode horses together for miles and miles of trails at a Florida state park. Two weeks after that, the world shut down and two years later, he died. His dying was my first very close-up experience with serious illness and death. If...
4 Tips for Talking to Your Parents About Death

4 Tips for Talking to Your Parents About Death

End of Life

Previously I wrote a blog about how important it is to prepare for end-of-life decisions you might have to make on behalf of your parents. I wrote about advance directives, and having important conversations with doctors and family. I culled so much good advice from...
Your Parent’s Death: Facing Fear and Finding Meaning

Your Parent’s Death: Facing Fear and Finding Meaning

End of Life

In my next life, I want to come back as Dr. Kathy Selvaggi, the palliative care doctor who appears in this Frontline documentary series about how our health-care system handles end-of-life care. I think we should all idolize clinicians who escort people to and from...