#palliativemedicine

[a-starbucks-for-asgard]

Why I choosed to be a hospice volunteer.

Well... I think I should write down my experience that happened a few days ago and why I started to do what I do.

Since I was a child my parents kept me away from the death. I was not allowed to see my grandmother one last time and also attend the funeral. They kept this dark topic away from me. Always saying that,, this kind off stuff is nothing for a child " or,, this child wouldn't understand it". I always asked myself why is the Death such a taboo. Why they keeping me aways from it. From a actully natural thing. Everybody was born and everybody will die sooner or later. That's the way it is.

In some country's and also a long time ago the people cared about old and frail people. And also people who were dying. They could die peaceful at home. The people was around that dying person till it was over. Death was once a part of life. Now it's something we must fight against it. Something we must be ashamed of. Something that's not exist.

So I decided to make difference. I want to be near that people. Near the dying people. People who are close to death. Give them all the love and dignity they deserve. And help them to live their life till the end. Fulfill some small wishes. Just to see their smile in their faces makes me happy and I know I does the right thing.

A few days ago I witnessed for the first time a person departure. I stayed with a old and very friendly lady 2 hour till she finally died. She wasn't able to response anymore. Her gaze was fixed in the ceiling and her breath was a rattle. I held her hand. I read to her. I prayed for her. It's was the most touching moment of my life. And I also had the thought that this could be me in 50 or 60 years or so. And that I wish not to stay alone in the most hardest time of my life. She went peaceful.

I couldn't actully realize it that she was really gone. So I touched her cheek and her hands and feet a few times. And as I touched her I could finally believe that she is gone.

I told one of my friends about that and she.... Well.. She didn't react the way I hoped she would. She was disgusted by it and seemed to be uncomfortable by that story.

I hope I had someone to talk about that in this moment. But I reached out to my king. Loki. And he was so wonderful. Kind and understanding.

I hope in near future we will be able to care about dying people in a naturally way. Death is real and we will and must face it sooner or later. But I think it's important to have someone on your bedside who cares. Who support you. Who loves you. Who is not afraid.

[weetziebat]

24

I watch the clock tick ticking— twenty-four hours is forever when you are dying and the same can almost be said if you were living and yet, I cut you off within eleven seconds of walking into the room until I get down to your level; then I'm there for sixty percent longer than what you thought (a whole seventeen point eight seconds!) I have gotten so used to my inheredited algorithmic approach of jumping to assumptions (I was surprised: this tattoo artist was not a smoker, this octagenarian was not a mother) all you want is for me to shut up and listen.

[basavatarakam-cancer-hospital]

We are delighted to share the opening of our newly renovated palliative ward at Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital and Research Institute. Equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and advanced medical technology, our upgraded palliative ward is designed to provide the highest level of compassionate care for our patients.

The grand opening, which took place yesterday, reflects our unwavering commitment to improving patient comfort and treatment outcomes. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the donors, supporters, and staff who made this transformation possible.

Thank you for your continuous support as we strive to offer the best care for our patients.

[palliativepoetry]

All the world's a stage

By William Shakespeare

(from As You Like It, spoken by Jaques)

                                      All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,

Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms;

And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel

And shining morning face, creeping like snail

Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,

Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad

Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,

Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,

Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,

Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,

In fair round belly with good capon lin’d,

With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,

Full of wise saws and modern instances;

And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts

Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

His youthful hose, well sav’d, a world too wide

For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,

That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion;

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

[weetziebat]

Daddy, Are You In The Ground Or In The Sky? — nycmidnight

A young girl struggles to understand why her father didn’t say goodbye. Length: 497 words Year: 2023

[palliativepoetry]

I hope death is like

being carried to your bedroom

when you were a child

& fell asleep on the couch

during a family party.

I hope you can hear the laughter

from the next room

[palliativepoetry]

I missed you quietly today. So quietly that no one noticed.

I missed you as I climbed out of bed and as I brushed my teeth; when I waited at the lights on the drive into work and as I heard the rain outside my window.

I missed you as I ordered lunch and as I kicked off my shoes when I got home; as I switched off the lights and climbed into bed for the night.

I missed you without tears or noise or fanfare.

But oh how I felt it.

I felt it in the morning, at lunchtime, in the evening and at night. I felt it as I woke, as I waited, as I worked. I felt it at home, on the road, in the light, in the dark, in the rain.

I felt it in every one of those moments, each one sitting heavier and heavier as the weight of me missing you kept growing and growing.

Yes, I missed you so quietly today.

But I felt it so loudly.

-Becky Hemsley

[palliativepoetry]

A Pretty Song by Mary Oliver

From the complications of loving you I think there is no end or return. No answer, no coming out of it. Which is the only way to love, isn’t it?

This isn’t a play ground, this is earth, our heaven, for a while. Therefore I have given precedence to all my sudden, sullen, dark moods

that hold you in the center of my world. And I say to my body: grow thinner still. And I say to my fingers, type me a pretty song. And I say to my heart: rave on.