COHO: Choosing Options, Honoring Options

The author was featured in the film Consider the Conversation. In this book he describes the desperate efforts of medical professionals to prolong life at any cost, frequently leaving the dying isolated and miserable. How to plan for a meaningful and pain-free for yourself and loved ones can be found in these pages.

The author, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts, describes the difficulty doctors encounter when treating patients with life-threatening illnesses, especially when all treatments have failed. This is a must-read article for laymen and professionals alike. Available online at the New Yorker website.

The author is past President of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Care and a gifted storyteller. He begins his account of dying well by telling about his father’s terminal illness and then describes the process of decline and loss of capacity that await most of us. In doing so, Dr. Byock tells the reader stories of those he has treated to illuminate with empathy how both patients and loved ones can meet this life event in a caring and supportive way. Published by Penguin Books.

The author, an international leader in palliative care, explains what words are most important to speak and hear at all times and especially at life and death moments: “Please forgive me … I forgive you … Thank you … and I love you." Rather than holding back out of fear or discomfort, the author explains how expressing these feelings assist both the living and those dying to let go of old grudges and fears that separate us from those we love. www.thefourthings.org

Two sisters, one an emergency room physician and the other a practicing attorney, explain some of the problems that arise at the end of life, even for those who have written a living will. They offer a step-by-step plan to provide caregivers clear and legally binding instructions for one’s end of life care. Published by Penguin Books.

This mother/daughter team offers practical step-by-step advice and guidance to improve the last days of life. Both authors are experienced hospice volunteers with backgrounds in nursing, the law and psychology.

Doug Smith is a leading expert in hospice care. In this book he offers practical advice for caregivers to assist in helping the patient who is very ill and often debilitated. He describes techniques that will assist the caregiver and patient during these difficult days.

A question and answer format put together by the American Bar Association; a wonderful generic resource. Published by Oxford University Press.