Death Doula, Social Worker, and Hospice Volunteer My desire to support people in end-of-life choices and to work in this field originates from the experience of my mother’s death to ovarian cancer when I was 15 and she was just 39. This experience was shrouded in isolation with no one speaking about the “elephant in …
Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED) is becoming a more recognized end-of-life choice, and more patients are choosing to hasten their death by stopping eating and drinking. Typically, they make this choice when they feel that their body is so severely compromised that their quality of life is no longer acceptable. Many patients, afraid of …
Is a VSED Webinar in conflict with PeaceHealth’s ethical policies? Not really. Read More »
By Andrea Fenwick One of the things that I learned from being a hospice volunteer is that hearing is the last sense that we lose before we die. Even after someone has died, speaking words of kindness, love, and peace offer comfort to those still living; and singing can soothe and bring a sense of …
The following poem was written by Kate Vredvoogd while being present with and sitting at the bedside of her beloved father, Bruce Vredvoogd, during his 11 day VSED process. Kate is a writer, photographer and teacher of the English language. Her website is www.wanderlustwords.com. My dad is the trickster, the quiet careful listenerwho hears the …
