Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

I have been doing volunteer hospice work for two years. One of the reasons I like it is because there are no mean people who go into hospice work. Well I suppose there might be one or two, but I have not met them yet. I think that nasty cranky people just go into other lines of work in general. So the work I do for Hospice By The Bay brings me a lot of joy not just from the patients but from the co-workers. One of my co-workers recently said that she thinks we do it to try to “de-sensitive” ourselves about death. And that is probably true of me. I have not known many people who have died, so providing relief care and comfort care for patients puts me at the front line of a subject that interests me. So with that in mind I would like to recommend the book “Being Immortal” by Atul Gawande. I had the pleasure of listening to this book on CD and it made me fall in love with driving again. I couldn’t wait to get into my car and listen to it. The premise is simple but innovative: Do we have it all wrong? Should doctors stop trying to save lives and instead help us to die? When a patient is terminal shouldn’t a doctor try to help them die with dignity instead of pummeling them with painful treatments that have no hope of saving their lives? Gawande experienced this situation first hand when his father, also a doctor, got sick. His personal story, and experience with terminal patients makes this book fascinating. After you read the book you can also look up interviews and programs on line in which Gawande talks about his dad as well as interviews other patients. This is not only a great book but it introduces a new way about thinking about healthcare that is not only realistic but also comforting. To order this book on Amazon click here.