On COVID-19, Flexibility and Compassion
We share this thoughtful blog by EOLCCA Board member Fran Johns, a prolific thinker and writer. While much has changed in the mere 11 days since she wrote this piece, we wanted to share her calming perspective as we go about the hard work of isolating ourselves...
Diane Rehm’s new book: When My Time Comes
Editor's note: We know that focusing on helping our families and supporting our communities in the effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus is of the utmost importance. During this time, we will continue to share with you, dear readers, our blogs and other...
Cycles of Living and Dying…
Originally published March 4, 2020 and reprinted with permission Sebastian entered the world eight weeks ahead of schedule, weighing all of two pounds. His lineage is Korean/African American/German, which may offer an insight into how determined, individualistic...
The Beauty of Choice
Introduction: This beautiful piece was written by one of our Client Advocate Volunteers, Jill Lloyd, in southern California. We are honored to be able to share it with you. We continue to expand our volunteer base and if you are interested in becoming a volunteer,...
Thank you Dr. Israel!
We applaud and need more doctors like New Jersey physician, Jessica Israel, MD to share the thoughtful journey that led them to participate in medical aid in dying (MAID) for their patients. In California and all the other states that have MAID, as well as in states that don’t yet have this legal option available but are working diligently to get similar laws passed, we need more Dr. Israels to be open about fully supporting the wishes of their dying patients.
It is our hope that the first ever National Clinicians Conference on Medical Aid in Dying, taking place on February 14-15 in Berkeley, CA, will provide guidance and support to those medical practitioners wishing to learn more about how to help their dying patients achieve a ”good death”.
EOLCCA has made great progress in learning about and communicating with physicians in private practice – and with hospices - in California who support MAID. These medical providers have been prescribing medical aid in dying and are accepting our client referrals for help finding a physician who will prescribe MAID. We hope that following the conference many more physicians and hospices will partner with us and our clients to adequately explore all their end-of-life options.
Read Dr. Israel’s story: “A day like no other: The first time I helped one of my patients die"
Barriers Persist in California and Elsewhere
The barriers to using medical aid in dying remain so high that in one state, pharmacists are fighting back and helping terminally-ill individuals find physicians willing to help. We know this because of a recent Kaiser Health News story by JoNel Aleccia. Aleccia...
The Path to a Good Death
This weekend, EOLCCA hosted our third Client Advocate Volunteer training in California. It was a great day and we have some amazing new volunteers in our EOLCCA family. Part of the training included sharing (anonymously) client stories with the trainees, and what...
EOLCCA 2020 Hope and Vision
We have been thinking about how we want to grow in 2020 and are working to clarify our vision for the coming year. But, sometimes it helps to look back to where we have been and where we are now in order to look ahead. In doing so, we surprised even ourselves by...
Giving Thanks
The dictionary describes the word ‘thanksgiving’ as follows: “the act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors…..an expression of thanks….” Each of us always looks forward to Thanksgiving, and loves spending hours with family gathered...
Physician-Assisted Suicide…. Not!
Every day my Google Alerts send me interesting articles about death and dying. Some I read, some I pass by, but this one caught my eye. A medical student wrote a piece about the medical practice of “physician-assisted suicide” as a collaborative process. While he...
