Author Archives: Amy Getter

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About Amy Getter

MS, RN, CHPN

AULD LANG SYNE

Posted on December 29, 2016 by Amy Getter

Tradition says that a new year brings with it new hope and new goals. Some of us even write these down, placing a slip of paper carefully in a carved wooden box to bring out next year, the talisman of … Continue reading →

Posted in end of life care, hospice | Leave a comment

DUNGEONS AND KNOWLEDGE

Posted on November 27, 2016 by Amy Getter

While visiting with my English host, who teaches religious studies at an all-girls school in the UK, we bemoaned the truth together as we had both experienced it: that sharing one’s knowledge and actually teaching another person is not the … Continue reading →

Posted in end of life care | Tagged | 3 Comments

WE’RE NOT THAT KIND OF FAMILY

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Amy Getter

November is national hospice month…an opportunity to honor all the patients, families and cohorts throughout the years. Over the years, I have been truly privileged to work with amazing families, of all kinds, as they walked through the loss of … Continue reading →

Posted in end of life care, family of the dying | 5 Comments

THE LAST DOSE

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Amy Getter

It’s been nearly 30 years since the evening as a fairly new nurse I had been assigned to the oncology floor. I still remember my patient (a young woman in her mid thirties with advanced ovarian cancer) the mother of … Continue reading →

Posted in end of life care, family of the dying, hospice, hospice story | 3 Comments

DEATH, NATURALLY

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Amy Getter

  I meet my patient, and think to myself, death by a thousand cuts.  Incremental loss of mobility, independence, then slowly parts and pieces of his body, appendages removed, organs no longer functioning and blood vessels filled with sludge.  I … Continue reading →

Posted in end of life care, the conversation | Tagged , | 3 Comments

PLAY YOUR MUSIC

Posted on July 26, 2016 by Amy Getter

While sitting quietly, I listened while he talked about years that have “flown” by, and the changes that life had wrought, not just in the physical body, but the faded career, the fractured relationships, the plans that were collected in … Continue reading →

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SAY NOTHING

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Amy Getter

I was reminded again recently, when you don’t know what to say; say nothing. Let quiet speak. We sat at a table and listened as a patient tearfully explained how hard things were for her, how her husband wasn’t listening, … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

MAKE A WISH

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Amy Getter

I met a woman recently who works for the “Make a wish” program, and we shared stories about granting wishes.  She made an emphatic statement, “I’m so glad most of my clients have ‘a life limiting illness’ but aren’t necessarily … Continue reading →

Posted in end of life care, hospice, Wishes | Tagged | Leave a comment

AN ODE TO MY MOTHER

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Amy Getter

Some of my family still mention, when reminiscing about my mother, that she was “out of touch” with reality.  My mom had a mental breakdown in her early thirties, (during the 50’s when a lot of women lived in a … Continue reading →

Posted in daughter, end of life care, family of the dying, wisdom | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

STATING THE OBVIOUS

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Amy Getter

Some say: people want to know when they are dying.  Some say: people need to be informed.  Some say: doctors should be better prognosticators.  Some say: denial is a good thing. We all have our biases.  I have had the … Continue reading →

Posted in living, unique | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment