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POPS10 Ways to Help Someone Grieve There are few, if no, clear guidelines on how to help someone grieve in American culture. Here are some helpful how-to's offered by an official grief counselor.
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POPS"Thank My Lucky Scars" Ward found a "life peace" most of us only dream or read about. His body is covered with scars and he realized that each "scar" was the one thing in his life that brought him closer to the people and experiences that helped others make important transitions in their lives. He does not know the meaning of the word "can't," in fact it's banned from his vocabulary except when he is giving one of his witty speeches.
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POPSHere Are Some Important Passages in the 2,000 Page Legislation.
Eviscerating Medicare: In addition to reducing future Medicare funding by an estimated $500 billion, the bill fundamentally changes how Medicare pays doctors and hospitals, permitting the government to dictate treatment decisions. Sec. 1302 (pp. 672-692) moves Medicare from a fee-for-service payment system, in which patients choose which doctors to see and doctors are paid for each service they provide, toward what's called a "medical home." (The bill specifies that patients may have to settle for a nurse practitioner rather than a physician as the primary-care provider.) Sec. 1114 (pp. 391-393) replaces physicians with physician assistants in overseeing care for hospice patients. • Secs. 1158-1160 (pp. 499-520) initiates programs to reduce payments for patient care to what it costs in the lowest cost regions of the country. Sec. 1161 (pp. 520-545) cuts payments to Medicare Advantage plans (used by 20% of seniors). Advantage plans have warned this will result in . . . .
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POPSEast Bay hospice facility draws praise from loved ones, dying patients
More: Patients may spend weeks, days or only hours here while doctors and a staff of nurses and aides control their pain or agitation, social workers counsel and chaplains guide. Since it opened in 2004, more than 1,400 people have died here… Family members frequently return, often on anniversaries, to walk or sit in the yard. "The families are just so thankful. They feel so grateful. The pain is being handled. They can kind of, not enjoy the process of death, but the stress is taken off," nurse Joy Favaedi said, as two of Butkus' grandchildren played in the living room. "It's a sad place, but such a positive place." …Advocates for hospice — which focuses on comfort in the last six months of life, normally at home — view the political debate as a reflection of cultural reticence to accept death or recognize a downside to persistent life-extending measures. Places like Bruns House fill a need for acute hospice care in a homelike setting…
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POPSUK: Sentenced to death on the NHS (National Health Service) “Forecasting death is an inexact science,”they say. Patients are being diagnosed as being close to death “without regard to the fact that the diagnosis could be wrong. “As a result a national wave of discontent is building up, as family and friends witness the denial of fluids and food to patients." The warning comes just a week after a report by the Patients Association estimated that up to one million patients had received poor or cruel care on the NHS. The scheme, called the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP), was designed to reduce patient suffering in their final hours. Developed by Marie Curie, the cancer charity, in a Liverpool hospice it was initially developed for cancer patients but now includes other life threatening conditions. It was recommended as a model by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), the Government’s health scrutiny body, in 2004."
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POPSAt the end, offering comfort, not a cure More: A third of Medicare spending goes to patients with chronic illness in their last two years of life…Does calling on one more team of specialists at the end of a long and final hospital stay reduce this spending, or add another cost to already bloated medical bills? Dr. O’Mahony and other palliative care specialists often talk about wanting to curb the excesses of the medical machine, about their disillusionment over seeing patients whose bodies and spirits had been broken by the treatment they had hoped would cure them. But their intention, in a year observing their intimate daily interactions with patients, was not to limit people’s choices or speed them toward death…They argue that a frank acknowledgment of the inevitability of death allows patients to concentrate on improving the quality of their lives, rather than lengthening them, to put their affairs in order and to say goodbye before it is too late.
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POPSLying Works Well, the end of life counseling, which would have allowed Medicare to "pay to pay doctors who counsel patients about planning for end-of-life decisions," has now been removed from the Senate health care bill. The lies about the "death panels" worked.
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POPSThe Holocaust Begins . . . . .system. Patient’s rights advocates correctly note that the measure is likely to pressure seniors into making life-limiting legal decisions they might not otherwise make. In fact, that’s the point of the consultations. Erick Erickson from RedState also circulated an email message on Friday reporting an overheard conversation between an aide to Rep. Paul Tonko (D, NY) and an alleged lobbyist regarding the House health care bill. The conversation included the observation that “probably the best part of the bill is the increase in Hospice care which will solve the prolonging of life issue.” Hospice care, as opposed to hospital care, limits access to life-extending technological procedures. To claim that hospice care “solves the prolonging of life issue” suggests that a national health plan will cover hospice care but not hospital care for certain, life-threatening illnesses, with the result that patients will be required by the state to die quietly rather . . . .
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POPS"In Defense of the Frail Elderly"
A friend of mine posted a comment on her Facebook page about socialize medicine recently which sparked quite a debate. Most commenters were very much against Obama's plan but one commenter was quite for it. This idiot went on to say "BUT everyone should must have the same opportunities to Health care. And that includes limiting treatment to the "hope less cases" empty the nursing homes!!!" Wow. Nice guy. Now this guy is 49 yrs old & not in prime condition by the looks of his profile pic so, I guess he is either planning on taking advantage of Obama's plan to make euthanasia available so that he can all spare us the cost. My grandmother recently had to be placed in a nursing facility at 92. Physically, she is great, but she suffers from dementia. However, my family wouldn't trade these last few months/years for anything. Obviously this buffoon has never had anyone close to him suffer. While not everyone on the left may feel like he does, I have a feeling more than we think do.
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POPSThe Cab Ride too moving an incident...a visit to the site shall help you in reading it from the beginning to the end: only a short piece of work...
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POPSMother revives son but gets ticket "It is absolutely shocking to discover that Richmond Council's parking office cannot find it in their hearts to rescind a parking fine incurred by a desperate mother who had no choice if she was to save the life of her child. We are so appalled we struggle to find the words."
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