End of Life Dilemmas Archives - Aging, caregiving and the journey through the second half of life

We will never allow isolation to carry the day…

May 3, 2020

In his article, Coronavirus requires physical distance in end-of-life care. But we won’t let isolation prevail, Rev. Thomas Ryberg, a chaplain resident at Albany Med in Albany, New York,…

The Dreaded Outcome Boomers Never Envisioned

June 26, 2019

Nursing homes are one of the top three dreaded outcomes that Boomers fear the most. The other two are Alzheimer’s disease and cancer, a trifecta of destinies they hope to be spared from at the end of life. While none…

End of the road: Doctors need to begin the conversation much earlier

October 19, 2018

Read full article here This article from BCC.com highlights the need for doctors to begin the end of life conversations much earlier in the process to help their patients cope with this unavidabe reality and, as important, find out what’s…

David Solie’s Complimentary Booklets for Caregivers

September 25, 2018

So far, I have created five (5) booklets for caregivers and their families. I have two more in the works. All five are complimentary, available in a PDF format and can be ordered using the form below. Here is a…

New PDF Booklet: Conversations Near The End

September 23, 2018

“We wish it didn’t come to this, but it does. Someone you care about is at the end of their life. No one knows exactly when but everyone is clear about what’s happening. Now comes the hard part, the conversations…

Another Caregiver Dilemma: Aging Parent Kicked Out Of Assisted Living Residence

September 20, 2018

Fact: Caregiving dilemmas beget new caregiving dilemmas. Just when you have succeeded in placing an aging parent in an assisted living residence and things are working out, a change in “health status” suddenly disqualifies him or her from staying there. …

Communicating Tough Choices. Booklet (pdf)

June 6, 2018

Introduction At some point in the lives of our aging parents things slip out of control. It may be a subtle change over time that finally becomes unmanageable or the sudden arrival of a medical setback. As much as we…

If I Die First…

May 10, 2018

Aging parents face an uneven future in which one will be left behind. FD Reeves’ poem “Home in Wartime” contains two elegant and inspiring stanzas of instructions for both possibilities… From “Home in Wartime” By FD Reeves If I die…

And Take My Waking Slow….

March 25, 2018

The Waking Theodore Roethke (1954) I Wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. I feel my fate in what I cannot fear. I learn by going where I have to go. We think by feeling. What is there…

Functional Ability is Destiny at the End

October 17, 2017

This important article by Dr. Dhruv Khullar in the New York Times offers new insights from data mining about a critical tipping point for older adults who drift beyond having chronic illnesses to also developing functional ability deficits. This lethal…