The Household Guide to Dying

Sound macabre? This novel offers a poignant and irreverent look at the process of dying, from the vantage point of a 30 - something fictional woman who moves between the roles of daughter, wife, mother, advice columnist and novelist. Written by Debra Adelaide, the pages contain humor, wisdom, practical advice and enough tenderness to to cause the reader to shed a few tears. I enjoyed this book. It was my selection to facilitate for book club and I am looking forward to discussing the book and the topic with my book club buddies this Wednesday evening. Here are a couple of reviews/interviews:

1. Conversations live with Vicki St. Clair - Seattle radio KKNW am 1150, review by Cynthia Baxter
2. Sydney Morning Herald - May 17, 2008 - Interview with Susan Wyndham
3. The Ember - Nick Terrell
4. ABC National Radio, Australia (Richard Aedy interviewer) Podcast - Debra Adelaide is the second interview
   

Music

The term music thanatology is new to me. It refers to a musical modality that combines harp and voice at a dying patient's bedside to create an atmosphere of serenity & comfort. In the larger context, structured (improvisation, analysis, writing lyrics) & unstructured (simply listening to music) music therapy is but one component of a holistic approach to palliative care with many reported benefits. Selections from the Baroque or Renaissance eras would be my choices, but it happens that the "best" music depends on the treatment goals and not necessarily on personal music tastes.

Care for the Spirit - the NFB documentary "Griefwalker"

National Film Board of Canada

The film's website

Exerpted from the film's website: Stephen Jenkinson has been called the Angel of Death. Whether sitting at the bedside of a dying woman, or speaking to clinicians dedicated to delaying death, Jenkinson bears a message that most do not want to hear: that death is not something to be denied or avoided but "befriended." A Harvard-trained theologian who has traveled far from Western religion, Jenkinson says there is a "hole inside most of us and it's in the approximate shape of a soul." Griefwalker is filmmaker Tim Wilson's extraordinary portrait of his friend Jenkinson and his work with the dying. The film weaves an illuminating picture of a remarkable man, and leaves us with a deeper understanding of how our deaths should be held as "a prized possession."

Anonymous patient

I found this picture on the Internet. There was no attribution. A colleague kindly supplied the artist's name, Robert Pope, and this led eventually to yet another website to explore The End of Life Project.
Canadian artist Robert Pope (d. 1992) devoted the last few years of his short life to documenting his experience as a patient with lymphoma. Physician Jock Murray has immortalized Pope's work in a book entitled, Reflections - Illness and Healing: The Art of Robert Pope

Contemplating the future in beautiful locations

Two years to ponder options, professional & personal - punctuated with
the good fortune to step away from the ordinary & predictable first to
Martinique, then to France looking for inspiration. A taste of my favorite photographs from these places, a reminder that j' ai eu de la chance, and later, a few from the new nest - chaos to order at home thankfully - have not yet hit my stride in the training program though. Establishing a rhythm, achieving the balance between learning, studying & practicing in this new field and guarding those activities that are soul-restoring - meditation, music, art ..... Perhaps this blog, entitled Literature, Arts and Medicine will interest you too. What is known is that mindfulness meditation and journal writing are the only activities with evidence to show that regular practice mitigates burnout and compassion fatigue in those caring for patients at the end of life.

Blogpost using email

Navigating the Web & Web 2.0 technologies - This information literacy elective is amazing. Kudos to Tania, MLS extraordinaire. Only four days into the month and words like wiki, blog, html code & personalized home page have meaning and relevance. Contrast with key punch card, card reader, MS-DOS, floppy disc....

Longevity in medicine...

The motivator for a mid-life career change. Or more to the point, a mid-life everything change. Back to school & student status, from renovated century home & well-trodden pathways to small (but lovely) apartment in an unfamiliar city & new province, whole segments of my former life "in storage"... The words, "What have I done?" resonating with every step during my early morning walk to work those first few weeks.

Euthanasia - Interview with Dr. Mount

Interview with Dr. Balfour Mount
CBC - The Current - July 22, 2009

Insightful interview with a compassionate practitioner who champions palliative care.