I’ve been thinking about death and dying a lot lately. Maybe that’s because I watched all of the Queen’s funeral or maybe it’s because I read about the actor Alan Rickman’s newly published diaries, Madly Deeply in The Guardian yesterday. It wasn’t the diaries that caught my breath (although those
Continue readingTag: palliative care
THE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: When My Heart Gently Whispered…. It’s Time to Let Go
It is my pleasure to host this guest post from caregiver and writer, Ruth Berzins. This blog post is part of a series on grief published on the Madiha Foundation website. The Madiha Foundation‘s mission is to improve people’s mental health and empower women. The foundation offers simple yet effective programs
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: A VERY HUMAN STORY OF COMPLICATED CARING
Yesterday I had the delicious pleasure of sitting in a small, country community centre hall with seven other writers. We were there for a workshop at the invitation of Brian Doyle, my neighbour who also happens to be a highly distinguished Canadian novelist. My favourite book of Brian Doyle’s is
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Why Using Hospice Doesn’t Mean You’re “Giving Up”
None of my own family members have ever been in hospice care, but our son Nick has been on palliative care for some time now. We support Nick’s decision not to have any more surgery or invasive procedures to correct the effects of his disabilities. Between 2006 and 2011, we
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Why Using Hospice Doesn’t Mean You’re “Giving Up”
None of my own family members have ever been in hospice care, but our son Nick has been on palliative care for some time now. We support Nick’s decision not to have any more surgery or invasive procedures to correct the effects of his disabilities. Between 2006 and 2011, we
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: HOW TO CARE FOR SOMEONE YOU KNOW IN HOSPICE
I am pleased to host this guest post by my colleague in caregiving and writing, Katherine Arnup. Katherine is a hospice volunteer who has a lot of personal caregiving experience. Here, she writes about caring for someone she knew in hospice…
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: HOW TO CARE FOR SOMEONE YOU KNOW IN HOSPICE
THE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: HEALED, IF NOT CURED – WHAT A GOOD DEATH LOOKS LIKE
This morning I was scrolling through facebook when a friend’s post caught my eye. Eric Fischer is a disability Dad whose son is palliative and very complex. I always read Eric’s sensitive and searingly personal writing – you may remember that I reviewe…
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: HEALED, IF NOT CURED – WHAT A GOOD DEATH LOOKS LIKE
This morning I was scrolling through facebook when a friend’s post caught my eye. Eric Fischer is a disability Dad whose son is palliative and very complex. I always read Eric’s sensitive and searingly personal writing – you may remember that I reviewe…
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Balancing Love, Vulnerability and the Right to a Doctor Assisted Death
In the United States, news is dominated by the pre-election primaries. But in Canada, headlines are about how my country should operationalise a Supreme Court ruling on physician-assisted suicide. The Supreme Court’s ‘Carter Decision’ found…
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Red Book That Is So Wonderful
There’s a red book that’s been sitting on my desk for months. It’s one of many that have been sent to me for book reviews. That pile got smaller recently when I came to the cottage for a summer break of reading and relaxing. I wish I had read this
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Pro-rating funding for PSW wages creates unintended consequences
In 2010 a provincial coalition of experts was assembled to look an integrated hospice palliative care system in Ontario. Hospices are a specialized residential facility for palliative care patients. As the coalition’s report states, “hospice palliative care is a philosophy … Continue reading →
Continue readingMusings on Canadian Politics: Quebec at forefront of right-to-die movement
The Quebec National Assembly introduced a bill on Wednesday that will allow health professionals to use medical procedures to end the lives of patients near death who are suffering and want to end their lives. The legislation “is intended for people at the end of their life to die with
Continue readingcalgaryliberal.com: Why I Run
When Redford’s Conservatives cut persons with developmental disabilities programs, I can only look on aghast as funding for my three handicapped siblings is cut. When Redford guts palliative care nurses I can only remember caring for my grandmother, an ex-nurse who spent more than 40 years in the profession, who died last year
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM - A Blog by Donna Thomson: Five Tips for Surviving Caregiving
A few weeks ago, I travelled to Vancouver to address a family association and also to give a talk about how we use Tyze Personal Networks to coordinate Nick’s care. I’ve written extensively on Tyze before, but for the uninitiated, Tyze is a softw…
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM - A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Right to Give Care to Someone You Love
Recently, I spoke on the telephone with another writer who six months ago, lost her beloved mother to cancer. Christabel Shaler writes a blog called The Ethical Hustler for the Vancouver Observer and here is how she described her mother in one of her posts there: We grew up
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM - A Blog by Donna Thomson: Constipation, a Kidnapped Diplomat and an Enema
My husband is a retired diplomat. A colleague from the service, Bob Fowler, had the terrible misfortune of being kidnapped in Mali and wrote a book about his awful experience called “A Season in Hell”. Bob tells a story in his book (and one recounted in even more vivid detail
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM - A Blog by Donna Thomson: "God’s Little Joke" – A Tragic Story
I guess I am used to witnessing pain, so I do not cry easily. But this morning I read an article from “Psychology Today” that made me weep silently, my stomach in knots. Titled “The Cyclops Child” and written by a retired MD, it tells the story of this doctor
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