33 Meditations on Death: Notes from the Wrong End of Medicine

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No one wants to live long enough to sit incapacitated in a wheelchair in the corridor of a hospital or nursing home. This book reinforces all the things that we suspect about ageing which none of us really wants to own. If a doctor can perform an abortion or transgender operation I don’t understand why a patient can’t request an end of life assist. And I loathe fish, can't eat lamb and must steer clear of certain other foods that make my skin itch. It is a very thought-provoking, and often moving book, that reveals how modern medicine can sometimes prolong suffering for both the patient and the family.

The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.It is immensely readable and is both funny and poignant even though it covers very difficult and often avoided subjects; namely the fact that we all die, that old age can be grim and that death is not always the worst outcome. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. I am happy to talk on end of life decisions in the elderly, dementia prevention, the history of stroke disease, biological ageing or other topics covered in 33 Meditation on Death. This book was recommended and whilst I did find it interesting in parts, generally it's a tad sad and depressing ( as it would be given the subject matter) For me, the book lacked any spiritual depth. I have a plan in the end and won't be left suffering more needlessly because of lacking a NDR directive.

David Jarrett’s 33 Meditations, the fruit of forty years of professional experience with people at the end of their lives, is not only timely and important, but hugely enjoyable.He is a clinician, teacher, examiner and former medical manager with extensive experience of frailty, death and dying and the modern world’s failure to confront the realities. Bursting with empathy, common sense and humour, would that we could all be so fortunate as to have the author at our bedside when the time comes. ACT Contact / FAQ About Events / Videos Merch / Subs Sign in/up 33 Meditations on Death : Notes from the Wrong End of Medicine dAVID jARRETT More by this author. He marries the importance of keeping ourselves useful with the necessity not to take ourselves too seriously. I am naturally a little biased but this is a lovely book which highlights the simultaneous futility and the beauty of life.

Jarrett explains how we can ensure that our last years are comfortable and not a burden to us, the health care system and, most importantly, our loved ones. We all need to have conversation about what we want in the end and keep the conversation going with your family. This unusual and important book is a series of reflections on death in all its forms: the science of it, the medicine, the tragedy and the comedy. How else will my caregivers (when I'm old and gaga) know I want a glass of Aussie Chardonnay at 7pm every evening.I struggled a bit in the beginning and wondered if this was going to be another medical professional having a pop at the NHS and government and so on. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. I am interested in how modern medicine seems to have lost its way especially with excessive investigation and treatment of the very frail and elderly close to the end of their natural lives.