Embracing our mortality hard choices in an age of medical miracles - Schneiderman, L. J. (Oxford University Press, 2008)
Includes bibliographical references and index
Putting in writing what you want (and don't want) -- What may happen if you don't make it "clear and convincing" -- Facts and statistics -- Empathy and the imagination -- Ancient myth and modern medicine: what can we learn from the past? -- Hoping for a miracle -- What could be wrong with hope? -- Medical futility -- Beyond futility to an ethic of care -- Future decisions we may all have to make
While surveys show that most of us would prefer to die at home, 80% of us will die in a health care facility, many hooked up to machines and faced with tough decisions. When you, a family member, or a friend are in this situation, what should you do next? Here, a leading expert on medical ethics at the end of life urges all of us, including health care professionals, to face these decisions with sensitivity and realism informed by both the latest medical evidence as well as the oldest humanistic visions. Dr. Schneiderman vividly demonstrates the wisdom of this approach by interweaving true stories of his patients, current empirical research in care at the end of life, and displays of the power of empathy and imagination as embodied in the work of writers like Tolstoy and Chekhov.--From publisher description