Note: ePatient Dave deBronkart recently blogged, in his ongoing series on public speaking, about the role of cognitive dissonance in effective talks. That concept sits behind this post like an invisible framework. I don’t address cognitive dissonance directly but the concept is embedded throughout the TEDx talk I delivered. I highly recommend reading Dave’s explication […]
What does a Quickie button from the mid 1970s have to do with dying in peace in the 20-teens? Watch my new, recent TEDxFoCo talk to find out…
For the first time, I’m now published in a medical journal. The article’s entitled “It’s Time to Account for Medical Error in “Top Ten Causes of Death” Charts” published by the Society of Participatory Medicine’s Journal of Participatory Medicine. Thanks to editor Kathleen O’Malley and SoPM co-fonder Dave deBronkart for their interest and insightful editorial […]
Occasionally I get a touch cranky. I want to clearly say that palliative medicine and those who offer it to its fullest deserve our gratitude. And I don’t want to alienate any palliative provider I might ask for assistance in the future. But I remain highly skeptical and deeply worried because every exposure I have […]
I’m poised to help a media outlet test and promulgate a tool to help its large follower base to share their stories—and honored to be one of thee out of almost 1500 social media feed subscribers to be asked. Yet I remain as troubled as ever by the role of stories (about which I’ve chronicled before in this […]
Hey! If you can’t or don’t wanna rap but would secretly like to to hear your poetic thoughts recorded, I’m now accepting original stanzas for consideration as additional versions of Windrum’s Never Say Die Rap (hear the studio version here). I’ve got the chops, the rap’s got the groove. You have experiences and thoughts. Here are the […]
Diana Rosenkaimer, on the Facebook group IHI Patient Activists, has this to say about end of life autonomy in response to a statement I made in a discussion thread citing the notion of ownership as central to dying in peace: Medicine can try to define it all they want, they are extraneous unless they cause […]
It’s clear that the medical system cannot adequately educate its charges. Patient activists/advocates know that an informed citizenry is required to materially improve medicine. Our participation is all the more requisite around end of life because in order to actualize peaceful dying we must each own our own death, just like women a generation ago […]
En route to making a music video of Windrum’s Never Say Die Rap (which premiered here) I’ve been practicing a lot, recording vocal tracks over the music loop. Here’s a reasonably decent audio version of it. Volume alert: the audio will autoplay at a strong volume, so adjust your audio equipment accordingly. Windrum’s Never Say Die […]
Bite the dust, the big one. Buy the farm. Cash in your chips. Check out. Croak. Cross over. Depart. Expire. Give up the ghost. Good to go. Gone to your reward. Kick the bucket. Meet your maker. Off the mortal coil. Pass on or away. Pushing up daisies. What do these phrases, these substitutes for […]
