SUMMARY

Dr. Edward T. Creagan, author of Farewell: Vital End-of-Life Questions with Candid Answers from a Leading Palliative and Hospice Physician, has literally dedicated his life to death. The first Mayo Clinic physician to become board-certified in palliative care, Creagan examines death and events beyond our control from both a medical standpoint and an acutely emotional perspective. His forty years at the bedside of dying patients gives him expertise in "how to die a good death." His observations and learnings, captured in his latest book, Farewell, inform both the dying and their loved ones. As he describes it, "This is a cookbook, a GPS of the soul, an MRI of the human experience to teach how to do [death] the right way.” By putting his suggestions into practice, we can navigate those last days and say “farewell” with hope, love, and compassion.

KEY POINTS

• Without an advanced directive and a will or living trust prepared ahead of time, a death in the family can leave a rift that can last for generations.
• Death = “the cessation of normal bodily functions which cannot be sustained with interventions” (as defined by the medical profession)
• Many millennials may be more impacted by the death of a pet than by the death of a loved one.
• “A good death” includes asking for forgiveness, forgiving yourself, and giving thanks.
• At the time of death, most talk about regrets rather than focusing on achievements.
• Hearing is the last sense a dying patient loses.
• The advanced directive should include who will speak for the dying person if he is unable to speak for himself.
• Hospice – care that is given to patients expected to die within six months; no focus on life-promoting or life-extending intervention; paid for by Medicare
• After saying "farewell" to a loved one, most say they wish they had started hospice care sooner.
• Palliative care – a branch of internal medicine designed to provide comfort and well-being in conjunction with potentially curative treatment
• In addition to and physical-therapy training, caregivers absolutely must get daily exercise, proper nutrition, adequate rest, and occasional respite.

QUOTES FROM CREAGAN

• “We are a death-denying culture…we are a culture that worships the athlete, the celebrity, the millennial, and we worship at the altar of technology. We somehow believe there is a guru, a potion, or a pill that will provide eternal life.”
• “Grandma is not dying because she’s not eating. She’s not eating because she’s dying.”
• “Everyone comes to the terminally-ill table with baggage, mistakes, and painful decisions that they’ve made. And if those issues are not reconciled and addressed and dealt with, all the morphine in the world or all the marijuana in Canada will not heal that wound.”
• “No one can sustain caregiving 24/7 without their own health and well-being deteriorating.”

BUY Farewell: Vital End-of-Life Questions with Candid Answers from a Leading Palliative and Hospice Physician

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