How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter (1993) is Sherwin Nuland's important book on a subject rarely treated with such a graceful blend of candor, medical soundness and poetic sensitivity. "Dying with dignity," he concludes, is a tough act. "The dignity that we seek in dying must be found in the dignity with which we have lived our lives. The art of dying is the art of living." That thought is a good one to keep in mind in reading a series of articles on the end of life currently running in The New York Times. I include a link here to one that confirms, illustrates and raises interesting questions about Nuland's point, "Sisters Face Death with Dignity and Reverence." I am intrigued particularly by a comment of Sister Mary Lou Mitchell, the congregation president: “We approach our living and our dying in the same way, with discernment.”
I want to add the comment of a hospice nurse who also worked in hospital ICUs. "As a retired hospice nurse, i can validate the beauty and effectiveness of palliative care. both the patient and the family get the kind of individualized support and care that makes the end of life a time of peaceful letting go in the serenity of a calm, well-supported family. as an ex-icu nurse, i can tell you that we not only waste incredible amounts of money on futile care, we torture our dying patients."
More to come.
