Being Mortal - the Documentary

I feel like a bit of an Atul Gawande fangirl. Since reading her book Being Mortal  a year or so ago, I recommend it to everyone as a must read.  He takes the time to not only talk about patients, but also his own family and experiences with what happens when we get older and the choices to make when we are dying.

When my own father got sick, he read this book and was able to make his own notes.  The hospice says it was the best advanced directive that they had recently read, which I said was a result of reading this book.

Over the weekend I watched the PBS Documentary Being Mortal which was a good introduction to what he is trying to talk about in the book, about being honest and finding out what people value, and how they would like their life to be at the end. When is the right time to stop chasing treatments, and spend time with loved ones is a question for all of us, and it often can be difficult for doctors to have this discussion with their patients.

It is around 55 minutes, and their are a few ads popped into the documentary which is a bit annoying, but it is a very worthwhile watch.  5/5

Movie Monday - Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

My goodness I feel a bit of a fangirl, but if there was one book I would recommend you read in 2015 it would be Being Mortal by Atul Gawande.  You can see a clip of the trailer that Frontline have made from their documentary of talking to this important author.

                                                             Source unknown

Being Mortal - Atul Gawande

Atul Gawande has written an impressive book, that looks at what really matters at the end of our life, how the inevitable decline in our bodies will happen to all of us as we age and how the changes in modern health care have changed how we approach the last parts of our life.  With changes in family structures, from a time and society that looked after the older members of our family in our homes, to them now living independently and then needing some form of care, often in nursing home or assisted living communities, it was interesting to consider the different approaches to care.

He also considers the way we deal with dying, how different approaches are used by clinicians, and how the use of hospice and palliative care can be used to help a person be comfortable and informed at the end of their care.

A sensitive and yet friendly book, I was touched by so many of the stories in this book.  The author shares stories of some of his own patients, his grandfather who died at 110 years old, and his own doctor father who faced a spinal cord tumour.

A great book to end the year on - one I will think of many times in the future I am sure.  5/5