Monday, September 27, 2010

Is Pet Loss Comparable to Loss of a Loved One?


[Reviewed and updated March 5, 2024]

I question whether experiences of such severe loss can be quantified and compared.  Loss is loss, whatever the circumstances.  All losses are bad, only bad in different ways.  No two losses are ever the same.  Each loss stands on its own and inflicts a unique kind of pain.  What makes each loss so catastrophic is its devastating, cumulative, and irreversible nature . . . So whose loss is worse, hers or mine?  It is impossible to give an answer.  Both are bad, but bad in different ways.  ~ Jerry Sittser in A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Caregiving and Hospice, September 19 - September 25

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:
  • Marginal treatments come at a high emotional cost from families, http://bit.ly/cxVY80 via KevinMD.com
  • One Failing of POLST is the notion that "Full Treatment" is Needed for All Patients, http://bit.ly/9jUZtM via GeriPal

Understanding and Managing Grief, Sept. 19 - Sept. 25

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:
  • After Spouse Loss: No Thank You: New Rules About Thank You Notes After the Death of a Loved One, by Widow Chick, http://bit.ly/bjiasW

Coping with Pet Loss, September 19 - September 25

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:
  • Congratulations! @SidKorpi "Good Grief: Finding Peace after Pet Loss" Named Best Book of the Year 2010 in Self-Help category by Premier Book Awards! http://bit.ly/b7oVYM

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Caregiving and Hospice, September 12 - September 18

From Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:
  • Relative with terminal illness? Restore control and sanity. Sooner or Later by D. Iocovozzi http://amzn.to/bUdXVH

Understanding and Managing Grief, Sept. 12 - Sept. 18

From Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:
  • Explaining Grandmother’s Death to a Toddler, by Marty Tousley | Open to Hope Foundation, http://bit.ly/czpjO7

Coping with Pet Loss, September 12 - September 18

From Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Monday, September 13, 2010

Hospice and Palliative Care Choices

At the end of life, there are still choices to be made and medical issues to address. Do you or your loved one want to be resuscitated? Do you want a feeding tube? Do you want pain relief? What happens if you haven't shared these concerns with a family member, or put your wishes in writing somewhere? What if you are the family member responsible for the person's care, and you don't know what the dying person wants in terms of quality of life, or how long your loved one will live? In this informative program (presented earlier this month and reproduced here with the producer's permission), Politics of Culture host Sarah Spitz discusses hospice and palliative care with two experts in the field: Adam von Passow, hospice social worker and author of the free e-book, Cocoon, Caterpillar, Butterfly, and Susan Block, MD, Co-Director, Harvard Medical School Center for Palliative Care. 



Banner image: Nurse Rachel Haenel embraces terminally ill 83-year-old Jackie Beattie, at the Hospice of Saint John on November 5, 2009 in Lakewood, Colorado. Photo: John Moore/Getty Images

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Caregiving and Hospice, September 5 - September 11

From Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:
  • Panel for Hospice Foundation of America's 2011 Hospice and Caregiving Educational Program Announced, http://bit.ly/9u2jfx 
  • Executive Director Susan Levine describes hospice and palliative care at Hospice of the Valley, http://bit.ly/dlZplL 
  • Miraculous! Terminal cancer patient reunited with long lost daughter, a hospice nurse, http://bit.ly/apdvWx 

Understanding and Managing Grief, Sept 4 - Sept 11

From Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Coping with Pet Loss, September 5 - September 11

From Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Light a Candle to Remember

On this special day, consider lighting a candle to remember the heroes of September 11, 2001: those who died that day and all the survivors and first responders who are seriously ill from its after-effects.  In solidarity with thousands of others, you can light a candle in your home or on your porch today between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 11:30 p.m., or you can light a virtual candle in cyberspace



Friday, September 10, 2010

Buckle Up and Embrace Life

Entitled Embrace Life, this video is an original approach to road safety advertising from the UK's Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, whose mission is to reduce road casualties "with the three E's - Education, Engineering and Enforcement."

It is one of the most effective safety advertisements I've ever seen, and I wish it could be viewed by everyone who enters an automobile, before anyone ever starts the engine. 



© 2010 Sarah Alexander/Daniel Cox/Sussex Safer Roads Partnership.  Presented here with written permission of Sarah Alexander, Alexander Commercials

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Caregiving and Hospice, August 29 - September 4

From Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Understanding and Managing Grief, August 29 - September 4

From Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:
  • Perinatal Loss: Help parents acknowledge grief, express emotions | Open to Hope Foundation, http://bit.ly/aZ0NZg


Coping with Pet Loss, August 29 - September 4

From Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Pet Peace of Mind, Revisited

As indicated in an earlier post, Pet Peace of Mind is a groundbreaking program that enables hospice patients to keep their pets at home with them at a time when they need them the most: throughout their end-of-life journey.  Program creator Rev. Delana Taylor McNac invites you to take a look at the new Pet Peace of Mind video for 2010 and give her your feedback.   In this clip, she reminds everyone about the focus of her program and shares some ideas for expanding the program in the near future: