Mr. B is excited to go home today. This past month has been difficult for him. He was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia that turned into sepsis. Later it…
I survived two powerful tornadoes in my lifetime. When I was a kid, a violent tornado devastated my hometown in Kansas. Ironically, our family lived in “tornado alley” without a…
How exhausting it must be; to know that others that love you and that you love worry about you as the serious illness progresses! There is nothing you can do….
The Safe Harbor Palliative Care Unit at the Birmingham VAMC had been open for a few years when Carol was admitted. Donna, “We just got a call from the Medical…
I’m jealous! All around me I hear people speaking in different languages. They graciously switch to English but I wish I spoke another language fluently. My Spanish allows me to…
Ms. Griffiths was the doyen of her local Methodist Church. Always a smile, a compliment, asking after family, a basket with freshly baked bread. Today I hardly recognized her. Her…
Have you read Sam Shem’s The House of God? I am not sure I would recommend it but…. you should know about this book. Many hospitals were started by and…
I am extremely grateful that I chose to do the Hospice/Palliative Care rotation. Throughout this month, I have learned much more than I anticipated, and it definitely wasn’t all about…
Last week another person with chronic Hepatitis C and hepatocellular carcinoma was seen by the Palliative Care team. There was a lot of discussion of new treatments, such as tumor…