by KathyKastner | Feb 19, 2018 | Blog, Personal Stories
Of the three siblings, Ricky – the sole daughter – was closest to her mother, Anna. “When my marriage ended, my kids and I lived with my mother. We all adored her.” In the last three years of her life Anna- who died at age 91 – was beset by Dementia. “It was more than...
by KathyKastner | Feb 19, 2018 | Blog, Personal Stories
“My mother was ‘dying’ for about 10 years – with her sickness, she seemed often on the brink of death, and then she’d rally. We’d all said our goodbyes a number of times. But on the day she actually died, my father was in her bed, his arm around her, holding on to...
by KathyKastner | Mar 31, 2015 | Blog, Medical Decisions
He seems far too young to be dedicated to minimizing suffering at life’s end, but that is, indeed, Dr Downar’s mission. His three specialties are inter-related: critical care, ethics and palliative care. Palliative care changes the focus from cure to...
by KathyKastner | Dec 14, 2014 | Featured
“They both died young, but they’d accepted death” Rodger Harding’s mom died of colon cancer, his father 3 years later of emphysema. “They both died young – 61 and 69 – but because they’d both accepted that they were dying, it took away the terror –...