The Hospice Doctor's Widow


Book Description

Everyone facing death--their own or a loved one's--benefits from this love story and practical guide in one. As a hospice doctor, Bob cared daily for dying patients. At home, his wife, Jen, listened to the stories of patients and families, layering her understanding of death with the early losses of her own brother and mother. Then, the man who had spent a 40-year career caregiving was diagnosed with advanced, metastatic cancer. An insightful blend of art and compassion, patience and endearing honesty, this book comprises Jen's digital art journal, which chronicles this time in their marriage. What began as a visceral, self-care compulsion within days of diagnosis became notes, collages, and images revealing the raw, luminescent reflections of a caregiver-turned-widow. Beyond the practical guidance and solace offered by an insider, Jen's journal reminds us how to live presently during our darkest hours, honor grief, and discover--even after devastating loss--ways to forge forward.




Journey’S End


Book Description

In Journey's End, many and varied collaborators write about death, dying, and the end of life. We attempt to describe real life issues and circumstances, and we discuss ways to proactively deal with them. Useful training, resource, and reference material is also included. Death, dying, and end of life are topics many prefer to avoid. This book suggests that we benefit from having frank discussions, living life to the fullest, and planning for our own journey's end, whenever that may be. Everyone who is born eventually will die, whether or not we want to embrace that fact. **** Though few of us know when we will die, we and our family or friends can be well prepared. We can have discussions and create written directives for what we want, if we are unable to verbally state them ourselves. Do we want life support? Do we want interventions that may or may not have any benefit to our quality of life if we are in the hospital or in an accident? Do we want to be involved in planning our funeral, memorial, or celebration of life? The submissions within are from professionals in the field of death and bereavement support and from laypeople, all of whom share stories of dying family members, friends, clients, and patients. Julie and Victoria, the coauthors of this book, also share stories from their personal and professional experiences. Journey's End is a broadly comprehensive book about death, dying, and the end of life.




Extreme Measures


Book Description

For readers of Being Mortal and Modern Death, an ICU and Palliative Care specialist offers a framework for a better way to exit life that will change our medical culture at the deepest level In medical school, no one teaches you how to let a patient die. Jessica Zitter became a doctor because she wanted to be a hero. She elected to specialize in critical care—to become an ICU physician—and imagined herself swooping in to rescue patients from the brink of death. But then during her first code she found herself cracking the ribs of a patient so old and frail it was unimaginable he would ever come back to life. She began to question her choice. Extreme Measures charts Zitter’s journey from wanting to be one kind of hero to becoming another—a doctor who prioritizes the patient’s values and preferences in an environment where the default choice is the extreme use of technology. In our current medical culture, the old and the ill are put on what she terms the End-of-Life Conveyor belt. They are intubated, catheterized, and even shelved away in care facilities to suffer their final days alone, confused, and often in pain. In her work Zitter has learned what patients fear more than death itself: the prospect of dying badly. She builds bridges between patients and caregivers, formulates plans to allay patients’ pain and anxiety, and enlists the support of loved ones so that life can end well, even beautifully. Filled with rich patient stories that make a compelling medical narrative, Extreme Measures enlarges the national conversation as it thoughtfully and compassionately examines an experience that defines being human.




When Breath Becomes Air


Book Description

**THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER** 'Rattling. Heartbreaking. Beautiful,' Atul Gawande, bestselling author of Being Mortal What makes life worth living in the face of death? At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity - the brain - and finally into a patient and a new father. Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both. 'A vital book about dying. Awe-inspiring and exquisite. Obligatory reading for the living' Nigella Lawson




A Widow I Became


Book Description

A Widow I Became is a true fairy-tale love story that ended too soon by the cruelty of cancer but victorious in Jesus for God's glory. I want to share my testimony and my husband's testimony of our cancer journey and ultimately his passing for God's glory. You may ask the question, how can death be for God's glory? Upon my husband's passing is when I realized this was/is for God's glory. As I open up and share a glimpse of my journey, my prayer is that you see the realness of God, the faithfulness of God and the strength of God through difficult times in life, with the hope of drawing people to God. A young widow I became when he took his last breath at the age of forty-four on May 29, 2019, at 8:15 a.m. On paper, I am either single or widowed; but in my heart, I am still married to the love of my life. I believe wholeheartedly that God has a plan and a purpose for my life, and He has upgirded me with strength for the journey and I must walk in it.




Future Widow


Book Description

A heartbreaking doctor's visit. A fate she never saw coming. She’d dig deep for the strength she so desperately needed… Seattle, 2015. Jenny Lisk was happy with a perfectly normal, busy life. But after the usual bustling week, Friday night turned from downtime into mild alarm when her forty-three-year-old spouse shared that he’d been feeling dizzy. And after ten days of his condition steadily worsening, she still wasn’t prepared for the stunning news: He was terminally ill. Reeling from his diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor, Jenny suddenly became not only a wife, mother, and career woman, but also a cancer-patient caregiver and parent of grieving children. And her many fears and uncertainties swirled around one relentless question: Did she have what it takes to help her young family survive? Through a vulnerable, honest account of preparing for the death of a loved one, Jenny shares tips and information about childhood grief, how to be there for mourning friends, and ways online communities provide essential support. And for those who feel lost and alone, or are grappling with any kind of loss, her deeply personal journey provides a universal beacon of hope. Future Widow: Losing My Husband, Saving My Family, and Finding My Voice is a brave and raw narrative that doesn’t pull any punches on the realities of caregiving and bereavement. If you like captivating stories, authentic inspiration, and understanding the grieving process, then you’ll find encouragement in Jenny Lisk’s touching memoir. Buy Future Widow to rebuild a life today! Praise for Future Widow: "This book is one you never want to have to read. It's also the book everyone should read." --From the Foreword by Jana DeCristofaro, LCSW, The Dougy Center for Grieving Children and Families "A poignant memoir and de facto guide for caring for a loved one." --BJ Miller, MD, Hospice & Palliative Medicine Physician "Frank, tender, real, and ultimately optimistic, Future Widow is the ultimate gift for someone going through the unthinkable." --Julie Lythcott-Haims, New York Times bestselling author of How to Raise an Adult and Real American “It’s been said that one person’s survival story becomes another person’s survival guide. With Future Widow Jenny Lisk has written that and so much more. This isn’t just a story of surviving—it’s also a story of thriving.” --Gina Warner, Founder, Badass Women’s Book Club "Riveting, real and all too relatable, the kind of stuff you tell your friend in a late-night call when no one can hear you cry. Stunning.” --Leslie Gray Streeter, author of Black Widow




The Widow's Might


Book Description

Jan Thompson takes you with her through the first year of widowhood. Honest and real, from the agony of uselessness to the newness of purpose, widows will know that they are not alone. Families, friends and pastors will better understand how to relate and minister to the widow. When she felt she would suffocate in her anguish, Jan felt the breath of the Holy Spirit. When she reached out for her husband, it was God who touched her. The widow brings before her Lord all that she has, and places it on the altar. God blesses her mite into a strength she could not have imagined, and gives her "The Widow's Might" to live once again; abundantly, in victory and grace.




A Widow's Tale


Book Description

There are people who are rememberers, and A Widow’s Tale shows Linda Burhenne is one of them. A lifelong Christian, she shares her experiences as a wife, a homeschooling mother of six, and a twenty-four-year public official with five successful election campaigns under her belt. She and her husband, Jack, were part of the charismatic renewal in the seventies, the abortion rescue movement, and spent five years as the only White family in an African-American church in the nineties. A Widow’s Tale recounts their journey through ingreasingly tumultuous times as seen through the eyes of faith. It is told with painful honesty, liberal humor, and reasonable kindness. Readers wishing to contact Linda may do so at [email protected].




Widow to Widow


Book Description

Widow to Widow shares the experiences of widows who have found comfort and continuity in mutual-help and community support programs. In the second edition of her pioneering text, Phyllis Silverman brings the success of the original widow-to-widow program into the 21st century, preparing a new generation of community leaders, clergy, counselors, hospice staff, social workers, and the widowed themselves to organize and implement mutual-help programs.




The Death Doula's Guide to Living Fully and Dying Prepared


Book Description

Find practical and emotional support for your journey with this immersive workbook. If you are preparing for the end of life—or simply looking to bring more meaning to the here and now—The Death Doula’s Guide to Living Fully and Dying Prepared imparts valuable insight to nurture clarity and your internal strength on your journey. Infused with essential doula approaches, this workbook is a first-of-its-kind publication that invites you to process your life and legacy, create remembrance projects, build connections to vital supports, and draft informative wishes and plans for your last chapter. Replete with centering techniques and thought-provoking prompts, this comprehensive workbook is a welcome invitation for anyone seeking a more intentional approach to living and dying. It provides a practical template for end-of-life planning focused on designing comforting experiences that feel personally affirming—with sensitivity to all belief systems, cultures, identities, and histories of lived experience. The practices within chapters promote death literacy, and present steps to create your custom death journal. Completing this workbook is a brave act of healthy preparedness, as it breaks down a complex and often overwhelming topic into manageable tasks. You will tap into deep truths and poignant memories as you work through the exercises, often feeling lighter and less burdened upon their completion. Most importantly, you’ll find your best way to live fully and die prepared, by clarifying the fundamental ideals, priorities, and requests you want honored.