Dying Matters

How do you navigate and negotiate the health system? 

How do you balance the desire for quality of life with a desire for longevity?

How much intervention is too much?

When do all the small fixes stop making sense?

Why do people think that only those who choose to end their lives before their natural demise die with dignity?

When we think about the concept of a good death are we thinking about the very last moments of life or the time preceeding?

How do we recognise when our care and compassion leads us to avoidance behaviours?

If society has the power to keep people alive, shouldn’t we have the compassion to let them go?

What are the limitations of palliative care?

Movies That Relate To Death And Dying

http://arts.pallimed.org/2008/05/top-10-palliative-films.html   In an endeavour to explore the creative aspects of palliative medicine the following has been listed as the Top 10 Palliative Care Films.

10.   One True Thing

9.    The Fountain

8.    Big Fish

7.    Life as a House

6.    The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

5.    The Sea Inside

4.    On Our Own Terms  (Moyers on Dying)

3.    Two Weeks

2.    The Doctor

1.    Wit

I wondered if the list would be very different if it was compiled  from an Australian perspective so I consulted the brains trust of my small group of friends and came up with the following selection. When time permits I hope to critique the selection.In no particular order…………

Magnolia

Meeting Joe Black

Love! Valour! Compassion!

Dead Poets Society

City Of Angels

Dying Young

Wings Of  Desire

Gods And Monsters

Stranger Than Fiction

Truly, Madly, Deeply

My Life Without Me

All That Jazz

Wit

Griffin and Phoenix

Dark Victory

Ponette

The Bumblee Flies Anyway

Dead Like Me

Six Feet Under

Whilst researching for this site I happened upon www.extrahandsforals.org

The contributors discuss the notion that we have a medical system for the dying that is as ambivalent about dying as we are ourselves. They say that what used to be termed death and dying is now under the umbrella of ‘end of life’. End of life - a subtle shift with an emphasis on life rather than death.