Tag Archives: end of life conversations

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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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IN THE MOMENT

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Amy Getter

“I’ve taken care of things all my life, and I’m doing the end planning, too, because that way it will be done to my satisfaction,” says my 91 year old patient.  She’s completed financial affairs, even has her funeral expenses … Continue reading →

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IT COULD BE THE LAST THING YOU EVER SAY

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Amy Getter

I have been touched many times by someone’s last words.  And sometimes, I am deeply saddened.  At my final visit with my doctor-patient, his only tenuous words to me were the question, “What is my PT/INR?”,  as he lay in … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, end of life care, goodbye | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

THE CONVERSATION

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Amy Getter

It seems that our dinner table is the place for all family levity and includes heavy discussions and lighthearted disagreements.  As we pass around the pasta, we begin pounding out our opinion about a medical study, a friend’s Facebook posting, … Continue reading →

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THE WEDDING PLANNER

Posted on August 3, 2013 by Amy Getter

I imagine she looks like she is dying now…..no one other than family members are allowed in to see her these final days.  She was a friend a long time ago, and became more distant over the years, as she … Continue reading →

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END OF THE WORLD

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Amy Getter

When the Netflix envelopes arrive at our house, it’s often a potpourri of strange movie picks.  This week was no exception.  I’m not sure I had ever seen the movie, “On the Beach” from 1959-a classic I guess- but I can’t seem to get … Continue reading →

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