Recent Articles
08/09/2018
How does one communicate with a friend who has had a stroke and has limited conversational ability? That’s been on my mind ever since my good friend Ginger had a stroke three months ago. Ginger has Wernicke’s Aphasia which means she has damage in the areas of her brain that processes the meaning of words […]
04/24/2018
My husband Larry’s best friend Jim has Stage 4 lung cancer and is under Hospice care. After visiting Jim yesterday, Larry wrote him the following note. Dear Jim: Before I came to visit you, I read an article by Colleen Arnold, MD, entitled Living with the Dying. Dr. Arnold gave me advice on how to […]
04/26/2018
How can you be a friend to a person with a terminal illness? First of all, consider the type of relationship you have with this friend: are you extremely close, or more of an acquaintance? This will help you decide which caring act to display. The ideas below come from several sources, including our book […]
Guest post by Colleen Arnold, MD I worked in emergency medicine, family practice and hospice care over my physician career; therefore I have plenty of familiarity with death and dying. Even so, I developed a new perspective when my 57-year-old husband died from lung cancer less than six months after his diagnosis. Gleaned from that […]
04/25/2018
Should we bring a gift to a terminally ill friend? Kate Bowler, who has stage IV colon cancer, says by all means bring a gift! Kate is an assistant professor at Duke Divinity School and author of the book, Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved.” Kate writes, “Bring me presents. Bring […]
By Dr. Colleen Arnold, as told to Karen Mulder As a family physician, emergency room doctor and hospice doctor, Colleen Arnold is no stranger to death and dying. But her experience took a personal turn when her husband Neil was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer at the age of 57. Colleen offers us these three […]
Just a few days after learning that our dear friend Jim had been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, the calendar informed us that his birthday was coming up. Larry and I wondered what kind of birthday card to send him. All the funny or sarcastic cards seemed totally inappropriate. The flowery positive-thinking cards seemed […]
