I recently talked about celebrating my grandma’s 96th birthday and her secrets to longevity.
As you read this today, I’m at her funeral.
I’m sharing this not because it’s sad (although I will miss her dearly), but because she had a long, full life and her passing exemplifies a beautiful story from which we can all learn.
A few years ago I read the book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, by Atul Gawande.
It’s one of those books I find myself recommending over and over again because it reminds us of modern medicine’s true intent and how we use it to improve quality of life.
It reshaped the way I think about aging and end of life care by focusing on what individual patients really care about in order to have a good life all the way to end.
If you have a patient care practice, it’s likely you have patients who are aging or at the end of life. For the rest of us, we likely have family and friends who are aging or at the end of life.
That means ALL OF US should know how to have difficult conversations, have the ability to discuss whether recommended medicine is extending length AND quality of life, and to ensure we have a good life to the inevitable end.
My grandma walked into her 96th birthday party, enjoyed pizza and cake, and gave a speech about how much she cared for everyone there. A month later she was diagnosed with a UTI, said she was ready to leave this life, and passed away peacefully 5 days later. She didn’t want extra medication or measures. She did it her way.
We should all be so lucky – and intentional.
Being Mortal is a great read for all health care providers and care givers. The author, Atule Gawande put it well:
“We’ve been wrong about what our job is in medicine. We think our job is to ensure health and survival. But really it is larger than that. It is to enable well-being.”
Thanks for reading, and as always, have a great week and keep learning!
Jen
