Read more
Zusatztext "A dear old teacher of mine taught me! in his dying days! that death need not be horrible. In fact! it can be enlightening and educational. In much the same spirit! Marilyn Webb's The Good Death offers an excellent road map for life's last journey." --Mitch Albom! author of Tuesdays with Morrie "Transforming death to a subject discussed openly by the dying! their families and the medical community is the greatest value of this book. The Good Death receives my strongest endorsement and should be read by physicians and laypersons alike." --S. Jay Olshansky! Ph.D.! The Journal of the American Medical Association "Webb reminds us! through her firsthand observations! clearly and compellingly presented! that dying need not be a time of frantic terror! or terrible suffering." --Robert Coles! The Washington Post "An intelligent and compassionate look at one of our last taboos--and a hopeful message." --Daniel Goleman! Ph.D.! author of Emotional Intelligence "A noteworthy contribution to the continuing public debate over an issue that touches everyone." -- Kirkus Reviews "A sweeping overview of dying and end-of-life care in contemporary America. The poignancy of these stories and the clarity and force of Webb's investigation provide a foundation from which to explore what 'dying well' can mean." --Ira R. Byock! M.D.! author of Dying Well "Webb deftly analyzes the major themes in the contemporary debate about how! where! and when we can! and should! die." -- Publishers Weekly Informationen zum Autor Marilyn Webb's articles on dying have appeared in New York magazine, Ladies' Home Journal , Parade , The New York Times and USA Today . A former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today who has taught at the Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University, she is currently speaking nationwide at professional conferences and community organizations about the topics in this book. Joanne Lynn, M.D., is the Director of the Center to Improve Care of the Dying, George Washington University. Timothy Quill, M.D., is the author of Death and Dignity and A Midwife Through the Dying Process . Klappentext Modern medical technology has lengthened our lives and forever altered how we face our deaths -- but it has also created painful dilemmas that lawyers! doctors! spiritual leaders! and! above all! patients and their families are struggling with every day. Now! drawing on more than six years of firsthand research and reporting! noted journalist Marilyn Webb has written the one essential book we need to understand these new realities -- and to take positive steps to improve the care of the dying. In 1990, a man whom I will call D. Hale Cobb III died at the age of seventy-two of Alzheimer's disease. Hale had been the chief financial officer of a large corporation, known around New York City for his hilarious sense of humor and his flaming red hair. But over the previous eight or nine years, Hale had slowly begun to lose his mind. During his final two years, he was unrecognizable as the man he had once been: wheelchair bound, incontinent, tending toward violent words and behavior, howling at lights and at the moon. He recognized only his wife, Sally, and then just intermittently. It was as if he'd been invaded by the Body Snatchers; he looked the same, but an alien had entered the family home. Alzheimer's is a progressive neurological disorder that slowly disables the brain, first eroding memory, then slowly wiping out other brain and bodily functions until death occurs. It is incurable, and its timetable is both slow and unpredictable. In 1976, shortly after Hale took early retirement from his corporate job, he'd had a severe gall bladder attack. A year later, he developed prostate cancer. B...
