Get to Know: The Center for Loss & Life Transition

The Center for Loss is dedicated to "companioning" grieving people as they mourn transitions and losses that transform their lives. We help both mourners, by walking with them in their unique life journeys, and both professional caregivers and lay people, by serving as an educational resource and professional forum.

Latest issue of Right at Home newsletter

In this issue:

• In-Home Care Helps Seniors Manage Hypertension
• May is Older Americans Month 2010
• When a Loved One Has a Stroke: 15 Tips for Family Caregivers
• "Brain Exercises" May Delay Memory Decline in Dementia
• New Study Confirms Need for Eldercare Employee Benefits

300 Urns in Lake Zurich, Likely Dumped by Swiss Suicide Facility

Local authorities in Zurich are asking questions about the assisted suicide facility Dignitas, after 300 urns containing human ashes were found in Lake Zurich this week. The urns bear the logo of the Nordheim crematorium, which is used by Dignitas. Former Dignitas employee Soraya Wernli confirmed that dumping urns into Lake Zurich was a standard procedure of the facility. LifeSiteNews, Christian Institute

Kevorkian: Assisted suicide 'discussed to death'

Jack Kevorkian, the man known as "Dr. Death," says assisted suicide has been "discussed to death." The assisted suicide advocate said Thursday the HBO biographical movie You Don't Know Jack is unlikely to inspire much action but he's delighted and honored by the "superbly done" film about his crusade. Breitbart

Euthanasia Bill Defeated in Canada

The Canadian Parliament overwhelmingly defeated the private members bill seeking to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide. The House of Commons rejected Bill C-384, proposed by Member of Parliament Francine Lalonde, by a vote of 228 to 59, with two additional members noting immediately afterwards that they mistakenly voted for the bill when they had intended to vote against it. LifeSiteNews

Self-Care Strategies for Pain Relief

If you’re working with a doctor to relieve acute pain, you’re most likely taking over-the-counter or prescribed pain medications at appropriate intervals, as well as resting and applying heat or cold to your aches, as necessary. But you can do even more to heal and strengthen your body on your own through self-care techniques. Everyday Health

See also: Keeping it Simple in a Life of Chronic Pain

HBO Movie on Jack Kevorkian Premiers Saturday

The new HBO movie glorifying the life of assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian starring Al Pacino premiers on Saturday. You Don't Know Jack, the biopic on the man who was eventually imprisoned for killing a disabled patient on national television, is already drawing criticism. Attorney and author Wesley J. Smith says the movie presents a revisionist history of Kevorkian and his killing more than 120 people in assisted suicides. LifeNews

9 signs your body is stressed out

Itchy skin, sleep problems, heart disease — these are just some of the common effects of excess stress. Everyday Health

Doctor injected MS sufferers with cow stem cells

A doctor who claimed he could cure MS sufferers by injecting them with stem cells from cows has been found guilty of exploiting his vulnerable patients. Dr Robert Trossel told patients they were receiving umbilical cord stem cells but in many cases hid the fact that they were of animal origin and contained a risk of BSE. STV

Making Your Wishes Known at the End of Life

Tomorrow is Health Care Decisions Day, part of a national campaign to encourage Americans to complete their advance directives or living wills and document their desires regarding medical treatment at the end of life.

Now we have the evidence that advance directives do make a difference. Researchers at the University of Michigan combed through the records of over 4,000 individuals over age 60 and found that almost a third would eventually become too incapacitated to make the necessary decisions regarding medical treatment at the end of life. But among them, nearly all of those with a living will requesting limited or comfort-care only ultimately did receive such care at the end of their lives. And those who specified all care possible were far more likely to receive aggressive care than those who did not. NY Times

5 Ways to Help Prevent Alzheimer's Disease

Even though no drug therapy or treatment regimen has yet been found that will definitively prevent Alzheimer's disease, lifestyle choices can make a big difference in your risk of developing the condition down the line. Researchers are now discovering, in fact, that certain healthy habits and lifestyle practices appear to reduce your chances of developing Alzheimer's — and they say it's never too early to begin making healthy changes. Everyday Health

Patients with amnesia still feel emotions, despite memory loss

A new University of Iowa study offers some good news for caregivers and loved ones of individuals with Alzheimer's disease. Patients might forget a joke or a meaningful conversation -- but even so, the warm feelings associated with the experience can stick around and boost their mood. For the study, published this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers showed individuals with memory loss clips of happy and sad movies. Although the participants couldn't recall what they had watched, they retained the emotions elicited by the clips. Researchers say the discovery has direct implications for Alzheimer's disease. Univ of Iowa

Police probe Dignitas death of 'healthy' millionairess

Even at the notorious Swiss assisted suicide clinic Dignitas, there are rules. One of them is that relatives should be informed of an impending suicide. A wealthy British widow, 74-year-old Kathleen Dobson, broke the rule in 2008 and may have broken up her family in the process. Sunday Express

Police probe Dignitas death after son raises questions

Kathleen Dobson was assisted in her suicide at a Dignitas clinic in Switzerland. Her son says he was not told she was about to commit suicide, and if he had known he would have intervened. Mrs Dobson suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, which left her depressed and in pain, but friends said she had a decent standard of living. Christian Institute

Get to Know: Better Off Alive

Better Off Alive is a community for people who have been denied wanted health care or who have been encouraged to hasten their own deaths because they live with disabilities or chronic medical circumstances. Our contributors are people whose lives have been directly touched by these issues, disability rights advocates, life advocates and those who seek a higher level of medical ethics and the restoration of personal liberty to people victimized by health care rationing.

Terri’s Ordeal and the Schindlers’ Example

Less than an hour after Terri’s heart stopped beating, in an extraordinary display of Christ-like humility, her brother Bobby faced the TV cameras and spoke to all who had clamored for her death.

Did he lash out at them, calling them to account for the suffering they had caused? No. Did he, out of mercy, state that he had forgiven them? No.

In one of the most breath-taking—and nearly inconceivable—displays of Christian submission, he asked for forgiveness. He asked forgiveness if he or his family had caused offense to anyone.

The Schindlers lived out the key trait for a pure heart. Forgiveness freed them from the stranglehold of bitterness and despair. It gave them strength to continue on to help others, which they have done through the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation. First Thoughts

Lost in Paperwork

In The Hostile Hospital, from Lemony Snicket's “Series of Unfortunate Events” books, the three young orphans at the center of the story visit the fictitious Heimlich Hospital, where Babs, the head of human resources, asks if they know what the most important work done in a hospital is.

“Healing sick people?” one of the children asks innocently.

“You’re wrong,” Babs growls, silencing the children. “The most important thing we do at the hospital,” she continues without flinching, “is paperwork.” The satirical stab comes uncomfortably close to the truth. NY Times

Physician-Assisted Suicide Not Legal in Montana

Compassion & Choices, has claimed that more than one Montanan has used physician-assisted suicide since a Montana Supreme Court ruling December 31, 2010. Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, emphasizes that the ruling in Baxter v. State, did not “legalize” physician-assisted suicide in Montana. Instead, Baxter held that a physician accused of homicide for killing a patient could assert a “consent of the victim defense.” LifeSiteNews, read analysis here.

Euthanasia Requests Triple in Belgium

After being legalized eight years ago, euthanasia is becoming increasingly frequent in Belgium. The number of requests for euthanasia have almost tripled since 2003, when 235 patients reportedly asked to be killed. The number rose to 428 in 2006, 495 in 2007, and 705 in 2008, according to the latest statistic gathered in the study.

The largest group requesting euthanasia is young male cancer victims, although 18 percent are people over the age of 80. Over 6.5 percent are people who are not in the final stages of their lives, but are mostly victims of degenerative neuromuscular diseases. The majority of euthanasia recipients are killed in their homes by the administration of barbiturates and muscle relaxants. LifeSiteNews

HBO movie about Kevorkian doesn't let facts get in the way of a sympathetic rendering

Jack Kevorkian is a dangerous nut who should be shunned, not celebrated. But you won’t see any of this in the movie, because HBO, the producers, and Pacino don’t know Jack. And the worst part is that they–and the popular media generally–don’t want to know Jack. They have a story they want to tell and facts would just get in the way. Secondhand Smoke

Elderly learn to beat euthanasia blacklist

Pamela Lazemby, 82, has beaten cancer: she has no fear of learning how to beat the law. ''Now I'm on borrowed time I can afford to live dangerously,'' she said after attending the first in a series of workshops teaching people how to circumvent a proposed law restricting access to some internet sites, expected to include some on euthanasia.

Websites associated with Exit International and its suicide manual, the Peaceful Pill Handbook, are expected to be refused classification and therefore to be inaccessible from Australian computers once a mandatory internet filter is in place. Ms Lazemby has nursed four elderly people to death and is determined she will not end up in a nursing home. Sidney Morning Herald

Keep Meds Straight

Wondering about a drug interaction or side effect from one of your meds? Everyday Health's new Ask a Licensed Pharmacist feature can help.

Save the date: October 23

Set aside Saturday, October 23, for the 3rd annual LIFT Caregiver Conference. Plans are in progress; the location will be Calvary Baptist Church in Grand Rapids. Don't miss it!

Leading German doctor backs assisted suicide

Should Germany shake off its scruples about assisted suicide? Der Spiegel pursued this sensitive question in a recent interview with Dr Michael de Ridder, an emergency medicine specialist who is also the chairman of the Hans Joachim and Käthe Stein Foundation for Palliative Medicine. His book, How Do We Want To Die? A Doctor's Plea for a New Culture of Dying and Death, in an Era of High Tech Medicine was released last month in Germany. BioEdge

The Messages LIFT Sends

A new edition of Life Matters is out, focusing on LIFT. Download and copy it for your church's bulletins or tract rack.

Babies' Bodies Found Dumped in Chinese River

The bodies of 21 infants were found floating or lodged in the mud of a river near the eastern Chinese city of Jining last weekend. The bodies—some in diapers, some in plastic bags marked "medical waste"—were found under a bridge over the Guangfu river. The grisly discovery has sparked outrage all over China, with Chinese-language news services and Internet websites denouncing the hospital and the morgue workers.

Reports suggest most of the dead babies were females who had been allowed to die or were aborted and dumped because parents wanted to keep the option open for a male child within China's coercive one-child system. According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, police have arrested two hospital morgue workers who had "privately struck oral agreements with the families of the deceased babies to dispose of their remains and had taken payments from them. They took the corpses to near the Guangfu River and disposed of them. They failed to bury them properly, so that they were exposed to view and discovered." Xinhua then blamed the incident on "local custom and a lack of regulation." LifeSiteNews

Doctors May Be Euthanizing Dying Children at Parents’ Request

A study published in the March edition of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine suggests that a few physicians may have killed children who were very sick by giving them fatal morphine doses, after the parents had requested euthanasia. Dr. Joanne Wolfe, a palliative pain specialist, interviewed 141 parents of children who died of cancer in order to explore the parents' motivation in considering and enquiring about hastening their child's death.

Dr. Wolfe observed that the child's experience of pain affects hastening death considerations by the parents, but many are not given adequate information about the legal options for pain relief, which can include sedating children into unconsciousness. "Several studies indicate that both caregivers and physicians tend to confuse the unintended adverse effects of intensive symptom management with the intentional hastening of death. In our sample, the 3 families who reported intentionally hastening their child's death described doing so using morphine, which raises the question of whether they had misinterpreted the physicians' intentions. In fact, evidence indicates that opioids can be used safely at the end of life and that their effect on survival, if any, is negligible." LifeSiteNews

Obligation to comply with wishes to die

The case of Margaret Page who, at 60 years old having suffered a major cerebral haemorrhage 20 years ago, is in hospital and refusing to eat, has renewed our interest in this contested area of clinical ethics and health law.
The reality is that an adult of sound mind, however disabled, has the right to consent or not consent to any medical treatment aimed at her benefit even where her life is threatened without that treatment. Otago Daily Times

Editor: A couple thoughts. First, food is not medical treatment. Second, why is she in the hospital? Is she dying? So many things are left unsaid in this article that you can't necessarily arrive at the author's conclusion.