Death and Dying

We had several lectures and discussions about death and dying. How do you tell patients they are dying? How do you deal with dying patients? It's one of those "fuzzy" topics that I happen to really like and write about. In a morbid way, I am attracted to it. Encountering death is one of those pivotal moments in one's life with such gravity and emotion that it is easy to run away. But I really think that meaning, art, intrigue, and respect can be found in thinking about and immersing oneself in death. Sort of strange, and hard to put into words. We heard a very poignant panel today of clinicians telling us stories of how they dealt with critically ill and dying patients. In a small group, I wrote about the question, "If I were to die in a few years, how would I like to die?" Terribly morbid, but how interesting! After hearing the panel today, I've thought more about what a perfect death would be (I've written in the past about the medical ethics definition of a good death but mine may be different). For me, I'm not really that afraid of death (perhaps it's residual teenage invulnerability or a lack of realism). But if I were to die a "premature" death, I would love it if my organs could be donated to different recipients. I'm not sure how that would change if I were to die older (a priori, it doesn't seem to matter, but I have a nagging feeling it might). In any case, I would hope for something good to come out of my death; death, no matter how serious and grave (pun intended), can also be curious, meaningful, thought-provoking, and reflective. The purpose of most things, it seems, is for the living. To think otherwise of my own death would be selfish.