Recent Articles
08/22/2018
My friend Ginger had a stroke a few months ago, which resulted in Wernicke’s Aphasia. This means that although Ginger knows what she wants to say, sometimes the words that she uses are not always distinguishable to those of us listening. Fortunately, Ginger’s daughter Kristin (who has been at Ginger’s side since the stroke) provided […]
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 […]
