Pain Management
4 Pain Management Always the same. Now a spark of hope flashes up, then a sea of despair rages, and always pain; always pain, and always the same. Leo Tolstoy,…
Dying Trajectories and Prognostication
2 Dying Trajectories and Prognostication Doc, how much time do I have? Patient Dying? No, I would not say she is dying. Doctor Prognosis grim. Note in chart Would you…
Non-Pain Symptoms
5 Non-Pain Symptoms The stories that ill people tell come out of their bodies. The body sets in motion the need for new stories when its disease disrupts the old…
The Last 48 Hours
12 The Last 48 Hours For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth…
Symptom Management—Overview
3 Symptom Management—Overview Here am I, dying of a hundred good symptoms. Alexander Pope There are two paths to progress; one may enter through the path of principle or one…
Chronic Illness, Death, and Dying in Modern Times
1 Chronic Illness, Death, and Dying in Modern Times Young friends regard this solemn Truth, soon you may die like me in youth: Death is a debt to nature due,…
Palliative Care Consults
10 Palliative Care Consults “She says, if you please, sir, she only wants to be let die in peace.” “What! And the whole class to be disappointed, impossible! Tell her…
Improving the System and Making a Difference
9 Improving the System and Making a Difference We must become the change we want to see. Mahatma Gandhi, 1869–1948 A medical student with whom I had worked went to…
Psychosocial and Spiritual Aspects of Care
7 Psychosocial and Spiritual Aspects of Care There is a time of the night between midnight and dawn when people despair. Anatole Broyard, Intoxicated by My Illness If one wants…
