How Doctors Die (2013)
My Mom just passed two weeks ago from terminal cancer.<p>The Monday ~2 weeks before she passed she was at the hospital, I asked her if this was all really what she wanted. She really wanted to change over to hospice and focus on palliative care.<p>We began advocating for her to switch. She didn&#x27;t have a ton of energy at the hospital to express&#x2F;follow up on her wishes without someone there. The hospital seems like they would have erred on continuing treatment until all hope was exhausted. But once we began advocating for this want of her, the gears really shifted. She got all the morphine she wanted, and various other comfort measures. The palliative care team was driving the show. She was eventually able to go home for home hospice, and she had a final weekend of energy before passing Sunday before last.<p>All to say, having an advocate that help you with your wishes when you&#x27;re in a weakened state feels like it is pretty huge. I can&#x27;t imagine what would have happened if me and my siblings weren&#x27;t able to help her. She _might_ have been able to get what she wanted ultimately, but all the follow up, checking in, caretaking etc you really want to have someone there advocating for you.