Resources
From blogs, videos, podcasts, and interviews--find resources that answer your questions about being an end-of-life doula.
PODCAST EPISODES HERE
PODCAST EPISODES HERE
I understand why many of us feel lost when we are in the hospital trying to find out what is wrong with our loved one. We are trying to make sense of how extensive the disease process is, surgeries that are being discussed, and conflicting information we may be receiving. Sometimes we have great to mediocre guidance, and sometimes we have none.
We never know how someone feels about something until we do.16 years ago I went to our local humane society and adopted an adorable white and black long haired cat; we named her Alice. My daughters were 2 and 4 years old and I was married to their dad at I belong to the Hospice Community Forum and just had a discussion with an “11th hour volunteer”. An 11th hour volunteer is a person who sits at the bedside of the dying, usually when death is imminent or within 24 hours or so. They are very much akin to a death doula.
Most of us have heard this term. It is the noisy rattling sound a dying person makes that can be very disturbing to hear.
As a person nears the end of life, there are some very basic similarities that may be seen which cross the type of illness or 'reason' for dying.
There is a phenomenon called terminal agitation, which may occur when a person is near the end of life.
I found a cassette tape under a bunch of papers on my desk and put it in my recorder (that barely works). When I pressed play this is where it began:
When someone is dying a natural death, there is a breathing pattern that usually happens. It goes something like this: a deep breath or two, then holding it, followed by a shallow breath or two, and so on. It is an uneven pattern of inhales and exhales. It can be scary if you don't know it is coming.
When a person is dying, they are retreating from everything outside of themselves. They have little energy for anything outside of what is going on in their internal world.
|
Are you interested in serving at the end of life in your own unique way?
"It's 100% possible!"
Categories
All
|