BEING MORTAL: Medicine and What Matters in the End–
ATUL GAWANDE (Author)
We all will age and eventually, we all will die and if you are someone who believes that, then this book is for you.
In this book Atul Gawande, a surgeon talks about what different methods are used to try to keep the people alive and how it affects their final days. In olden days, one would spend the last days in the comfort of their own home amongst family members. Now days, it is either in a hospital or in some kind of health institution and are spent connected to monitors or tubes of some kind.
It is really important to ask the patient what he wants and what his fears are. How much pain can he endure and when needed what kind of pain medication is he okay with and finally how much is too much. For someone who wants to try all the medication and procedures out there to elongate his life will be different from someone who does not want to go that route. What is interesting is that these days you can get hospice care in the comfort of your own home. The book is full of real life stories and experiences which make you think and ponder.
The book emphases on the importance of planning. These topics are hard to discuss but they need to be addressed. As uncomfortable as they sound they should be carried out before the crisis hit.
Being Mortal is a must read. I will admit that you will feel uncomfortable reading it but the topic it addresses is of immense importance and it needs to be discussed. The book Is full of real life experiences which make the reader realize what we are dealing with.There are ways out there to humanize the end of life care which is inevitable. It is interesting to read that doctors and patients and their family and friends are coming to terms to make the decision-making process easier. These discussions need to take place because finally there is “The End”.
Till then,
Happy Reading