Good reads about certain death

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, July 2019; written by Rebecca Brown.

Death and Dying are certain. More twisty: The how and why of getting there.

A compact-yet-complete new book awaits those who are puzzling over symptoms they are experiencing but don’t want to careen down the scary rabbit hole of consulting Dr. Google.

“Am I Dying?! Should You Chill Out or Freak Out?” is a surprising delight of a medical reference book to read. Cheekily written by a pair of doctors (and a slew of contributing physicians), it’s divided in to eight parts that cover most areas of the body.

Each chapter helpfully parcels its information in to sections, “Take a Chill Pill,” “Make an Appointment” and “Get to the E.R.” It contains several “Quick Consults” to answers questions like “Can Your Bladder Explode from Holding Your Pee?” (Not exactly), “Should You Take Probiotics?” (Maybe), and “Do Crosswords Prevent Dementia?” (Perhaps less than you’d think).

Even the authors know, however, when to put the kibosh on humor. The authors wryly note, “Chest pain is no joke. Seriously – we tried to think of funny things to say about it and came up blank. Don’t believe us? Try telling a group of doctors that you’re having crushing chest pain, then announce a few minutes later that you were just kidding.”

Another new book that involves dying, “That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour,” is almost lyrically written by Dr. Sunita Puri. It relates the deeply compelling internal conversations doctors have with themselves, and the external ones with family members, as medical staff treat end-of-life patients with palliative care. The many bedside conversations that Puri relates are brutally raw yet incredibly gentle as she guides patients and their families in discussing their final days. She shares words she used with a man dealing with late-stage emphysema:

“’You have so much life in you, Dave, and I can hear how hard it is to reconcile your sharp mind with how much your body is struggling.’ Right now, Dave was clear-minded and relatively stable, rather than critically ill and hospitalized. We could actually have a conversation about topics that would only be harder to discuss when he couldn’t breathe, or became confused and disoriented, or suffered from too much pain to talk.”

Reading these dialogues, readers can’t help but become better equipped themselves. Puri’s list of “What People Might Mean When They Say They Want ‘Everything’ Done” resonates with anyone who has lost a loved one. The author weaves stories of her early medical training with those of patients and her own family, especially the doctor-mother she reveres.