To Die Well: Your Right to Comfort, Calm, and Choice in the Last Days of Life

To Die Well: Your Right to Comfort, Calm, and Choice in the Last Days of Life

By: Sidney Wanzer   Joseph Glenmullen  

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Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5

Publisher: Da Capo Press

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Very informative book. - This is the most informative book that I have read and I have read quite a few since my mother has been in a nursing home for 6 years.

I, along with others, always think doctors know best and let them intimidate us when we ask questions regarding their choice of treatment, etc. After reading this book I will be more assertive and not be put off by asking questions. If in doubt - ask why!

I also will have additional paperwork drawn up to add to my Living Will & Durable Power of Attorney for Health so that there can be no misunderstanding or questions as to what I would want if I was unable to make my own decisions. This will also relieve the guilt-burden from my children.

We all need to address these issues. We need to have our electives known concerning our own health.

Customer Review: 4 out of 5
To Die Well: excellent book - but is it practical? - As a card-carrying member of two organizations advocating euthanasia, I am gratified that two MDs took the trouble to write a comprehensive book about the subject. They discuss the moral, legal, and the how-to of this controversial subject. Especially significant are the chapters guiding readers about their right to refuse food and hydration, and using helium to bring about their self-deliverance.

Dr. Wanzer is a compassionate physician. He describes his hour-long discussions with patients and their caregivers in their homes and at hospitals. He often refers to the rights of dying patients to dismiss their non-cooperating physicians even when they are already in a hospital, and choosing a more empathetic doctor. The sad reality is that doctors stopped making house call quite a while ago, and found a way around treating their patients in hospitals. They are adamant about seeing patients in their offices for only 15 minutes, which allows precious little time to discuss the various options and methods to exit this world. Medicare (and the majority of dying patients carry this insurance) does not even compensate physicians for discussing questions about imminent death.

On page 145 the authors describe how to "avoid unwanted resuscitative measures." Absent clear instructions prepared beforehand, they advocate that the family avoid calling 911. But if that has been done, they suggest calling the patient's physician to deal with the responding emergency team. In over four decades of living in San Francisco, I have never had physicians answer my call personally. When I was lucky, they returned my call after office hours. Having called 911 makes it is essential for the family to speak to the doctor the moment they are connected to the office. Every second counts to prevent the responding team from commencing resuscitating the patient. That simply won't happen.

Likewise, the suggestion that patients who refuse food and water instruct the hospital staff not to check their vital signs or administer antibiotics when the need arises is extremely unlikely to be followed.

In summary, this pioneering work needs a companion book on how to deal with the present medical realities.

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
To Die Well - This is the book for anyone that desires to have control of their lives and bodies during their last days.

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Useful information to help you live, and die, well - This book should be on the shelf of everyone who thinks he or she might indeed die some day, and on the shelves of caregivers and hospice volunteers and end-of-life professionals everywhere as well. It is honest, easily readable and crammed with useful information every thinking person should have. The authors identify the times - introducing the helpful concept of "turning points" - which most of us will encounter as our health declines, and outline how we can take charge of our lives by recognizing these times. The first is when "there is no reasonable expectation of a cure or of restoring health;" the second is when the prospect of hastening death may appropriately be considered. While the authors are physicians, and some of the writing seems aimed toward physician-readers, the book is for everyone and accessible for the lay reader. Its point-by-point instructions on patient rights and hypothetical situations will enable dying individuals and/or their families to be better informed of potential choices and to remain in control of their own lives. It is this recognition of the individual's right to retain control that makes To Die Well unique among books of its type. Also included are accurate summaries of documents everyone should have, useful histories and information on end-of-life organizations. So pair this book with another favorite - poems, essays, (or perhaps my own Dying Unafraid) - and do yourself and your loved ones a favor by spreading it around.

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
It promises to be an essential addition not just for medical libraries - TO DIE WELL: YOUR RIGHT TO COMFORT, CALM, AND CHOICE IN THE LAST DAYS OF LIFE comes from a leader in the right-to-die movement, and a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist who offer insights on turning points in a dying patient's life: one when no reasonable expectation of a cure is possible, the second involving hastening death - the subject of this book. TO DIE WELL focuses on patient rights, physician involvement, and how to stay in control of advance directives. It promises to be an essential addition not just for medical libraries, but for general-interest collections.

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