How to Give Terminal Care to a Dying Parent

By Kum Martin

Usually, as children we reconcile to the fact that sooner or later we will have to care for our parents because of deteriorating health and age. However, when your parent is diagnosed with a terminal illness, it can be devastating for you. Giving terminal care to a dying parent is not easy. Usually, this type of care is given when the life expectancy is less than 6 months.

Talk to your parent about terminal care and other treatment options. Find out what your parent wants. At times, your parent may not be ready to give up treatment options to prolong life. Hence, their wishes should be fulfilled. However, warn your parent about the possible side effects after discussing the same with the doctor. If your parent does not want to suffer from the side effects, then terminal care would be the only option available. This concentrates on making the person feel more comfortable during the last stages of the disease.

Speak to your parent about making end of life care decisions. If your parent is lucid and able to make decisions, then find out whether they want to spend the last days of their life at home or in a hospital. This is important from your parent's point of view, as it will reduce emotional stress and also let them choose where they die. Generally, people with terminal disease want to spend their last days surrounded by their loved ones and in familiar surroundings.

Make sure that your parent gets palliative care during the last stages of their disease. This will keep your parent comfortable and reduce symptoms associated with the disease. The doctors may medicate your loved one for pain and other uncomfortable symptoms that they may experience, such as nausea, shortness of breath or constipation. It will also provide you with some relief, as palliative care tries to ease the burden of the primary caregiver. It gives emotional, spiritual and physical support to both the patient and family members. Speak to your parent about hospice care, as it will allow your parent to die with dignity and grace.

When your parent is lucid, find out about what plans they have in place for their funeral. It sounds morbid to be discussing such a topic even before the person passes away, but it will allow you to fulfill your parent's last wishes. This may not be necessary if your parent has made a living will.

An important part of terminal care is providing emotional support to the dying person. This is extremely challenging, as everyone involved will be emotionally fraught. Hence, you would have to get your emotions under control and be there for your parent. Speak to your loved one and find out what they want. At times, they would just want you to listen. Address any spiritual need by calling on a religious leader. If they want to reminisce about the good old days, make sure you listen actively and also speak about those days. Try to spend as much time as possible with your parent, while ensuring that they are comfortable and pain-free.

Kum Martin is an online leading expert in elderly care. He also offers top quality articles like: Terminal Illness

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kum_Martin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~For more information, you might enjoy reading my book, More Than Meets the Eye True Stories about Death, Dying, and Afterlife. Purchase paperback on Amazon.com. It's also on Amazon as an e-book for those who have Kindle or Sony Readers. The audio book is now available!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remembering The Love That Was Ours in Death

By Suzy Morgan

One of my clients who is as interested as I am in what happens when we die, asked these questions about life in the afterlife.

1. "Are you saying that we come back through reincarnation with the intent to remember the love from the other realm (the dead life), but then we forget when we're in the physical?" Wouldn't we know this was going to happen before we're born?

2. "Is there a way to set a permanent intention before we're born so we will positively NOT forget, despite physical challenges? Can't we use a fail-safe mechanism to do this?"

Yes, no,no, no. Hah Here's what I hear from my angelic guidance:

1a. We come into the physical for two reasons. One is to experience life on this beautiful earth. Our experience is based on our level of consciousness. Low level, low life. High level, high life. By levels, I do not mean financial. Levels are a way of explaining life in our world of contrast.

What I do mean is that the more spiritually evolved we are, the higher the level of consciousness we have. Does this mean that at a high level of consciousness we do not experience pain or the pain that others feel? Not always. Often our experience of pain is to help others evolve as well as ourselves. Our experiences and reactions are always about us. It is only how we experience ourselves and each other that we can change. We learn to lead with our heart instead of our investments. Who we are is transparent to those who see beyond their 3rd dimensional (3D) eyes.

We can choose to see things differently, no matter what. A Face Book friend wrote that her husband was murdered. The man was never found. She's learned to let go and be healed. She realized the she had to forgive the murderer or live her life filled with poisonous hate and grief herself. Then the murderer would have killed not just her husband, but she would have wasted her own.

The second reason we come onto earth is to evolve spiritually. This does not mean that everything goes perfectly when we are enlightened or close to it. Look at Jesus, Martin Luther King, and even my enlightened friend, David, with more Near Death Experiences than the cat with 9 lives. What it does mean is we learn to take the high road. We learn to stand up for what matters and release what doesn't. We learn to forgive. To live compassionately. To love beyond the physical.

2a. Yes we know before we are born that life is tougher in the physical, but imagine that all you remember from your dead life is being loved, accepted and cherished. No judgment of anything or anyone. Your past evaporates from your mind's memories. After awhile you relax into a comfort zone of something akin to being dropped off at 5-star hotel in the Caribbean or the Mediterranean, with unlimited money and time to be with the people you choose. It's Nirvana. It's harder to motivate in Nirvana when you already have everything.

On earth, those on the lower end of the scale of consciousness think with our egos wide open, full throttle. We think only about us. We feel entitled to have anything and everyone we can take for ourselves. Those of us on the upper end tend to think of others and ways to make the physical world a kinder, gentler place.

There is no fail safe mechanism except evolving spiritually. We will never go backward on the scale of consciousness. A note of warning. If we are always measuring our deeds, we probably have a few more go-rounds at life on earth.

Suzy Morgan, B.A., H.H.P, is a Spiritual Intuitive, a Psychic Medium, a Psychic Energy Healer, and a Channel for the Angels offering Angel Readings and healing. By phone or in person. http://www.AskYourAngels.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Suzy_Morgan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For more information, you might enjoy reading my book, More Than Meets the Eye True Stories about Death, Dying, and Afterlife. Purchase paperback on Amazon.com. It's also on Amazon as an e-book for those who have Kindle or Sony Readers. The audio book is now available!

Handling the End of Life Decisions of a Loved One With Alzheimer's

By Brian Willie

Unfortunately, there is likely to come a time in every caretaker's life when he or she is forced to make an end-of-life decision for a loved one with Alzheimer's. These choices are not easy and cannot only take a mental and emotional toll on a person, but can cause intense physical pain as well.

Ideally, before the Alzheimer's progresses to a point where your loved one is unable to make these important decisions on their own, discussions about their wishes should take place while they still have the capacity to decide what they really want.

People with Alzheimer's have a legal right to limit or pass up medical or life-sustaining treatments including the use of ventilators, antibiotics and cardiopulmonary resuscitation as well as artificial nutrition and hydration.

Through advanced directives, Alzheimer's patients can decide whether or not they want to be kept alive artificially should the need occur. To avoid putting pressure on your or another family member, you should encourage your loved one to make this decision as soon as they are diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

It's important to an individual with Alzheimer's that his or her family members do not argue with their decision or associate the choice to not receive treatments or be revived as assisted suicide.

Keep in mind that an Alzheimer's patient reaching the end of his or her life is likely to be in the very advanced stages of the disease and therefore incredibly confused and uncomfortable. For someone in this state, aggressive medical treatment could feel like torture and bring more pain than comfort.

If you are faced with making the important decision of whether or not to keep a loved one alive, think carefully about what he or she may have wanted. Consult with close friends and family members who know your loved one well and speak to doctors about what they believe would be best for your him or her.

The decision is never easy, but may arise, so talk to your loved one before the Alzheimer's progresses and they are unable to communicate to you their wishes.

For Assistance wtih Austin Medicaid [http://www.willieelderlaw.com], please visit today. We will be "Your Trustworthy Legal Guide on Your Elder Care Journey."

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_Willie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For more information, you might enjoy reading my book, More Than Meets the Eye True Stories about Death, Dying, and Afterlife. Purchase paperback on Amazon.com. It's also on Amazon as an e-book for those who have Kindle or Sony Readers. The audio book is now available!

The Dying Helping the Dying

Here is an interview with a woman who was dying in hospice care but kept right on volunteering to help those who were actively dying. It is part of a series of interviews for a doc called" Lessons for the Living." She has passed away since the interview, but you will enjoy her perspective on dying as being just another item on the menu of life..

Kathleen on Dying and Dinner Parties - Excerpt http://www.vimeo.com/23135498


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For more information, you might enjoy reading my book, More Than Meets the Eye True Stories about Death, Dying, and Afterlife. Purchase paperback on Amazon.com. It's also on Amazon as an e-book for those who have Kindle or Sony Readers. The audio book is now available!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All answers are within the heart!

Recently, I recorded a podcast with Janice Mickle, who provides shamanic healing, energetic healing work, and spiritual counseling. Her personal mission is to help others understand and embrace the knowing that we are all spiritual beings, each being is complete and perfect, and all answers are within the heart.


In the third segment of the 4-part show, Janice talked about conscious dying, which is end-of-life transition assistance for someone who is ready to peacefully transition to the afterlife. n part three, Janice discusses this process. She is considering starting a class to teach others how to do this for a loved one. I think the readers of this blog might be interested in knowing more about this topic, so I'm sharing the audio here.

In this segment, she also discussed soul retrieval. When a person is wounded or abused mentally, emotionally, physically, or sexually, or has had a traumatic experience such as witnessing death or killing someone during wartime, the soul may fragment and parts may leave the body. This is commonly known as dissociation or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These fragments of the soul can be retrieved and reintegrated into the body using a journeying technique known as a soul retrieval.

Click on the arrow to listen:

If you would like to hear then entire show, go to http://weareoneinspirit.blogspot.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For more information on death, dying, and afterlife, you might enjoy reading my book, More Than Meets the Eye True Stories about Death, Dying, and Afterlife. Purchase paperback on Amazon.com. It's also on Amazon as an e-book for those who have Kindle or Sony Readers.