Does Hospice Withhold Food and Drink?

Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.  ~ William A. Foster

A reader writes: So… both of my in-laws passed away in different hospice facilities at different times in S. California. They received no food or water of any kind, just getting pain medications, and they passed within a week.

Understanding and Managing Grief, November 14 - November 20, 2021

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

How young people who lost parents and siblings to COVID cope with holidays Coping With Grief During the Holidays After Losing Family Members to COVID-19 « Teen Vogue 

This video with Dr. Alan Wolfelt provides some practical counsel to assist you in maintaining mental health wellness during the holidays.  Acknowledging Potential of Holiday Blues: Practical Tips « YouTube

In Grief: Did I Hasten My Father's Death?

[Reviewed and updated September 23, 2024]

I would rather be punished for making the right decision than live with the guilt of making the wrong one for the rest of my life.  ~ Shannon Messenger

A reader writes: My father passed away recently and I’m struggling with so much guilt. He had been battling cancer for nearly ten years. It started with prostate cancer and then spread to bones and I’m not sure if to a different area as well. He did radiation, chemo, oral chemo, and other treatments as well.

Understanding and Managing Grief & Pet Loss, October 20 - October 26, 2019

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Join us for a webinar discussion on when and how medication may be an effective support to help survivors along their grief journey. on December 3, 2019, 12 - 1:30 p.m. Understanding the Role of Medication in Grief Webinar, https://j.mp/2Wat5vs « TAPS Institute

Overwhelming loss can leave us vulnerable and unable to cope. That's why taking care of yourself is so critical. Taming the Grief Monster,  https://j.mp/33Zv5t5 « The Epoch Times

Twenty-four years later, I think about him every day. Every. Single. Day. It is not unpleasant. It is not painful. The scar over the huge chest wound is thin and tenuous, but it holds. This is grief. This is life. https://j.mp/2BDa1wb « Kevin MD

Pet Loss, Grief & Caregiving Tweets, July 21 - July 27, 2019

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Why the Death of a Pet Can Feel Worse than Losing a Human Loved One, http://j.mp/32RPEIl « PEOPLE.com

Kate Bowler: How to Speak to Someone Who's Suffering « The Atlantic http://j.mp/2K6nlNE

WWRMD - What Would Rhoda Morgenstern Do? http://j.mp/2K4EJCm « Thrive Global

In Grief: "I Think I Killed My Mother"

[Reviewed and updated September 23, 2024]

When we finally come to accept that suffering, impermanence and death are facts of life, we are freed from our unrealistic expectations, our grasping, and our subsequent disappointments and grief.  ~ Christine Longaker

A reader writes: My mother died last December at the age of 94. I have been tortured by thoughts that I didn't do enough to prolong her life. My mother and I were extremely close as my father died when I was 7 and I had no siblings. For the past 20 years, she had lived with my husband and me and our two daughters. She was the girls' caregiver while I worked. 
          My mother was my rock and so devoted to me and my family. I admit I took all that for granted. She moved across country with us 4 years ago when we relocated to a warmer climate. I didn't feel too guilty about uprooting her because all her siblings were gone and our small family was all that she had.

Caregiving and Hospice, June 4 - June 10, 2017

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

‘How long have I got?’: Why many cancer patients don’t have answers, http://j.mp/2t5PNoM « USA Today

If I Can't Speak For Myself...  http://bit.ly/2rQOcnb  Barbara Karnes RN

When a Loved Chooses to Stop Treatment, http://bit.ly/2s9PiwX « Seven Ponds Blog

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below. If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Caregiving and Hospice, February 19 - February 25, 2017

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

How Can Palliative Care Be Implemented in the ICU?  http://bit.ly/2lQdxg8 « SevenPonds Blog

Book Review: "Extreme Measures" by Jessica Nutik-Zitter, M.D., http://bit.ly/2lNmqY3 « SevenPonds Blog

Death Education Is Needed As Much As Sex Education, http://bit.ly/2lFFJ5c « A Good Goodbye

Voices of Experience: Stepping Down

By Marianne Monson

To care for those who once cared for us is one of the highest honors.  ~ Tia Walker

Marianne Monson has worked as an editor/art director of children’s books, has authored nine books for children and adults, and continues editing and writing for a variety of audiences. She also teaches Creative Writing and English at Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon. Her latest book, Frontier Grit: The Unlikely True Stories of Daring Pioneer Women, is dedicated to her grandmother, who succumbed to breast cancer in August. As her mother cared for her dying grandmother, Marianne was inspired to write this touching vignette.

Caregiving and Hospice, February 12 - February 18, 2017

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Warming Hearts, Cloaking Grief, http://bit.ly/2lVYLRL « Pallimed

When a Loved One is Terminally Ill: Talking About Death and Making End–of–life Decisions http://bit.ly/2lIXgan « HelpGuide

Laboring To Leave ~ Difficult Breathing at End of Life, http://bit.ly/2kLExg5 « Barbara Karnes, RN

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below. If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Caregiving and Hospice, November 20 - November 26, 2016

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Death and dying: Do dogs have it better? http://bit.ly/2guxRyM « Kevin MD

I have to go home, http://bit.ly/2fMpCND « Soaring Spirits International

Dear every cancer patient I ever took care of, I’m sorry. I didn’t get it. http://bit.ly/2feaPyU « Here Comes The Sun

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below.

If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Caregiving and Hospice, November 13 - November 19, 2016

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Caregivers have different set of problems, http://bit.ly/2g56E4r « Walking With Jane

Compassion and Choices Introduces Truth in Treatment, http://bit.ly/2gsQff9 « A Good Goodbye

FAQ for New Hospice Volunteers: 15 Questions You're Afraid to Ask, http://bit.ly/2g2dVnc « Pallimed

Caregiving and Hospice, October 9 - October 15, 2016

Stan Goldberg on ‘Loving, Supporting, and Caring for the Cancer Patient,’ http://j.mp/2e85e8t « Blog Critics

Caregiver Remorse: 3 Ways to Find Peace, http://j.mp/2e5Uw7q « Open to Hope

Ain't The Way To Die, http://j.mp/1MtTASL « ZDogg MD

Caregiving and Hospice, September 18 - September 24, 2016

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Why Bereavement Support is an Essential Component of Hospice and Palliative Care http://j.mp/2csFjqx « Liv On

Can sheer will power keep patients alive in their dying hours? http://bit.ly/2cAUe5m « STAT

RESPECT: An Approach to Death and Dying at End of Life, http://j.mp/2cErgVm « Marin Medicine

Caregiving and Hospice, August 7 - August 13, 2016

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Unnecessary Suffering and Indignity, http://bit.ly/2aJAdFV « BarbaraKarnesRN

Electronic hell records are here. Watch and weep. http://j.mp/2b5iauP « Kevin MD

Dying to Know Day: D2KD 2016, http://j.mp/2aGviLE « D2KDay|USA

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below.

If you'd like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you're cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Caregiving and Hospice, February 28 - March 5, 2016

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Those Working With End of Life Need Closure, http://j.mp/1RgNbJ2 « Hospice Times

Silver Screen Death and Grief, http://j.mp/24x2SFK « Crossroads Hospice Center

At Last! Your Death Acceptance Reading List, http://j.mp/1QdWuM4 « The Order of the Good Death

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below.

If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Caregiving and Hospice, January 3 - January 9, 2016

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

At the end of life, medicine truly becomes an art, http://j.mp/1TJXc4h « Kevin MD

Baby Boomers' Last Revolution Will Be Changing the Way We Die, Part 1,  http://j.mp/1ONWtkr « HuffPost Healthy Living

Forcing Fluids At End Of Life, http://j.mp/1IRssxN « Barbara Karnes Books, Inc.

Caregiving and Hospice, December 13 - December 19, 2015

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Medicare, Hospice and Trustworthy Doctors, http://j.mp/1NrRAtD « Barbara Karnes Books, Inc.

A Love Letter – “You Are The Light of Hospice,” http://j.mp/1P9oiAD « Hospice Times

PTSD at the end of life, http://j.mp/1NV722X « GeriPal

Caregiving and Hospice, October 18 - October 24, 2015

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Coping with the Impending Death of a Loved One, http://j.mp/1MY8OAc « Pallimed

Do You Have 'The Little Blue Book' in Your House? http://j.mp/1NVl5H6 « HuffPost Healthy Living

A Son Reflects on Father's Cancer Death, http://j.mp/1W4WVJ7 « AfterTalk

Caregiving and Hospice, October 4 - October 10, 2015

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

California assisted suicide bill signed into law, what next? http://j.mp/1OVv0fv « GeriPal

Free online course to help talk about end of life care, http://j.mp/1jb0xxp « ehospice

Compassionate Companions: Understanding the Final Moments of Life, http://j.mp/1jb0nGg « Seven Ponds Blog