Chinese traditions and widowhood

In Chinese culture, death is often seen as a curse and so words that sound like “death” are avoided as far as possible. The number four is one such word and Chinese generally would not receive well any car registration numbers, addresses or floor levels ending with a four, as they think this may bring bad luck or hasten death in the family. However, there is no empirical evidence of such cause-and-effect.

Nevertheless, we live among and relate with others who hold fast to their traditions and beliefs. These people include their elderly parents and close relatives. Understanding some of their traditional beliefs will help us to be more sensitive to their cultural inclinations when we reach out to care and support Chinese widows after their losses. Grace to Grieving Persons

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Latest from Caring Right at Home

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More people in Michigan living to more than 100 years old

More people in Michigan living to more than 100 years old, see what they have in common | MLive.com: Life expectancy is on the rise for people in Michigan who live to age 100 to 109 compared with 10 years ago, new Census data shows. In 2010 there were 1,568 people in Michigan age 100 to 104, up nearly 13 percent from 2000. There also were 151 people age 105 to 109 — up nearly 44 percent from a decade ago. Michiganders age 110 and older — called supercentenarians — fell from 40 in 2000 to 10 in 2010, down 75 percent.

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Profile: End-of-life specialist Dr. John Mulder

Profile: End-of-life specialist Dr. John Mulder | MLive.com: Mulder, 58, is vice president of medical services at Faith Hospice. A specialist in end-of-life care, he helps people find comfort and peace as they prepare to die and has become an expert in pain and symptom management. He knows what you’re thinking.

“People ask me all the time, ‘Why did you get into that field? Isn’t it depressing to work with dying people all day?” Mulder smiles. “Well, last I checked,” he says, “all my patients were still alive.”

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Photos from recent LIFT training

Gail and Dave Rogers (above left) of Hazelwood, MO, recently traveled to Grandville, MI, for a LIFT care coordinator training at Grandville Baptist Church. They want to start the ministry back to their church, Hazelwood Baptist. LIFT trainer Ruth TenBrink (far right) led the seminar with the help of Ray Paget.

Margaret Battin research article was false when published in 2007 and remains false today

Margaret Battin research article was false when published in 2007 and remains false today |: The Battin article (Journal of Medical Ethics, 2007) is important because the suicide lobby claims that this article definitively proves that we have nothing to fear by the legalization of euthanasia or assisted suicide. Was it just propaganda?

Related: Euthanasia won't negatively affect vulnerable groups?

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Scoring System May Tell the Dying How Long They Have to Live

Scoring System May Tell the Dying How Long They Have to Live - US News and World Report: Called the Prognosis in Palliative Care Study predictor model, the scoring system plugs 11 variables into a computer to see how many days, weeks or months a person with advanced cancer most likely has to live. These variables include symptoms, general health status and blood results.

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Overview of lewy body dementia

Dr. Peter Gott: "It's really hard to watch someone go from remembering everything to having to write it down so he doesn't forget, doing unexplainable things and having mood swings. When you look at his face, you can see the blankness. When he tries to say something, he doesn't know how to get it out. He forgets to swallow. Sometimes he knows me, and other times he forgets my name but remembers that we were connected. . . . Please help me to understand what is going on."

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Call for government adviser to be sacked over assisted suicide backing

Call for government adviser to be sacked over assisted suicide backing: A leading anti-euthanasia group has called for Martin Green, the government's Dementia Champion, to be sacked after his backing of assisted suicide for elderly patients (Telegraph, 29 Aug).

Paul Tully, general secretary of SPUC Pro-Life, said: "Mr Green, who works for the English Community Care Association, representing the interests of care homes, is clearly not interested in caring for some dementia sufferers. He seems to want them dead."

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‘Few and Evil’

WORLDmag.com | ‘Few and Evil’: "My husband didn’t say much in the weeks that he was dying, which lent a kind of solemnity to each handpicked word. One day all he said to me was 'Life’s not much.' He did not explain, and I did not feel inclined to ask for an explanation. Nor did I feel the need to correct his theology, nor to call him ungrateful. I think he was resonating to the same minor chord that Jacob was, this peculiar lucidity of those who see the measure of their lifespan at a glance and realize how paltry was its ambitions, how finite were the number of its loves and hates."

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Clinical trials using adult stem cells to treat MS

Clinical trials using adult stem cells to treat MS (video) | cleveland.com: The Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and Case Western Reserve University are collaborating on a one-of-a-kind clinical trial in the United States, designed to treat, or even reverse, the debilitating effects of multiple sclerosis by using a patient's own adult stem cells.

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Get Creative!

Get Creative!: Hospitals, health organizations, and patients use “art with heart” to encourage healing.

ArtPeace: Here's an opportunity to use your creativity and promote the sanctity of human life!

Kind Gestures to Show You Care

Kind Gestures and Ways to Show Someone You Care - CarePages.com: When illness strikes, you may be too pre-occupied to show your loved ones that you care. But patients and caregivers alike always appreciate a loving and kind gesture. Here are six ways to show you care.

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Living in grace – CarePages Discussion Forums

living in grace - Spirituality – CarePages Discussion Forums: "I am Christian, and am going through treatment for cancer. I found myself thinking through thoughts on the law and grace, particularly after some people mentioned they thought it was terrible that people who were good, or did good in the world, get cancer “and have to go through this.” I think this world is just one where, along with wonderful things, there are illness, death, accidents, natural disasters, and people who do evil things. Many of us will encounter at least one of those things during our lives. God can use these for great good in our own lives and for the world around us. I hope you can use my reflections in some way in your own spiritual walk, and that you will feel God’s love for you and his blessings today and all through your life." Reply to the author on the linked site.

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Priest refuses to conduct funeral of man who chose euthanasia

DutchNews.nl - Priest refuses to conduct funeral: Norbert van der Sluis said he was following the advice of bishops that people who choose euthanasia have no right to a church funeral. 'Nor will my conscience allow me to have a colleague conduct the funeral in my church,' he told ANP.

Assisted suicide could be 'legalised' in groundbreaking case

Assisted suicide could be 'legalised' in groundbreaking case | Society | The Guardian: The case of a stroke-paralyzed man named Martin could lead to a court ruling that he has the right to help not only from a paid professional to assist him get to Switzerland, but also to the services of a palliative care doctor in the UK to ease his death, should he decide to end his life by refusing food and drink.

Such a ruling would dramatically alter the current options for seriously ill and severely disabled people who wish to end their own lives in the UK. "There would be no more planes to Switzerland," said his lawyer. "Why would you bother?"

Related: Man's wife refuses to help him die

The Chaplain's Role in Pediatric Palliative Care

The Chaplain's Role in Pediatric Palliative Care: Mapping Model Programs - The Hastings Center: Professional chaplains are pediatric palliative care providers. They listen to, talk with, and provide a supportive presence for sick children and their families. They collaborate with physicians and nurses to care for children coping with pain or treatment side effects. Medical staff seek out chaplains for emotional support, and for advice in learning how to respond to the suffering they witness. Chaplains are highly trained as listeners, and may, through close listening, learn things about the way a child’s illness is being experienced by a family that are not obvious to other team members.

Coroners 'turning a blind eye' to assisted suicide

Coroners 'turning a blind eye' to assited suicide - Telegraph: At least one in 10 suicides in England is by someone with a chronic or terminal illness, found researchers who tried to obtain information on the subject from local health authorities. And two of 15 coroners interviewed also indicated they deliberately avoided probing into possible cases of assisted suicide - which remains illegal in Britain - "often for fear of causing problems for the friends and family left behind."

Global art competition on human vulnerability

UNESCO announced the 11 winners of an unusual art competition, with pieces compellingly depicting human vulnerability.

Works by 19 finalists may also be seen here.

‘Deselecting’ our children

‘Deselecting’ our children - The Globe and Mail: Here’s a recent Danish headline: “Plans to make Denmark a Down syndrome-free perfect society.” The Danes want to promote aborting fetuses with Down syndrome, so their society will be free of such people around 2030. One bioethicist describes it as a “fantastic achievement.”

A father's search for a drug to treat Down syndrome

Dr. Alberto Costa is a physician and neuroscientist. His interest in discovering a cure for Down syndrome arose when his daughter Tyche was born with it. In 2007 he published a study that showed that giving mice with Down syndrome the Alzheimer’s drug memantine could improve their memory.

Now Costa has taken the next step: he is completing the first randomized clinical trial ever to take a drug that worked in mice with Down and apply it to humans with the disease, a milestone in the history of Down-syndrome research.

. . .But the effects of that revolution on Down research may yet be cut short. A competing set of scientists are on the cusp of achieving an entirely different kind of medical response to Down syndrome: rather than treat it, they promise to prevent it. They have developed noninvasive, prenatal blood tests which would allow for routine testing for Down syndrome in the first trimester of a pregnancy, raising the specter that many more parents would terminate an affected pregnancy. Some predict that one of the new tests could be available to the public within the year.

Costa, like others working on drug treatments, fears that the imminent approval of those tests might undercut support for treatment research, and even raises the possibility that children like Tyche will be among the last of a generation to be born with Down syndrome. NY Times

Related: Possible treatment for Down syndrome raises ethical questions

French doc allegedlly killed four elderly patients

In a case which has gripped France, a doctor has been released on bail after being charged with the euthanasia deaths of four elderly people. According to his lawyer, Nicolas Bonnemaison, 50, who worked in an emergency department in the Atlantic coast city of Bayonne, admits that he gave lethal injections over the last four months, but says that he did so in good conscience and in keeping with his medical oath. He viewed the deaths as acts of compassion. All the patients were of advanced years and none of the families has complained. Le Nouvel Observateur, Aug 12

'Locked in syndrome' man asks court to let doctors help him die

'Locked in syndrome' man asks court to let doctors help him die - Telegraph: The man, known for legal reasons only as Martin, suffered a severe stroke three years ago, which left him unable to move. His only method of communication is by using his eyes.
In a highly unusual case, he wants to clarify the law so that medical staff or solicitors who help him to end his life will not be prosecuted. Assisting a suicide carries a potential 14-year jail sentence in the UK.

Elderly couple who refused food and water so they could die

Elderly couple who refused food and water so they could die with dignity evicted from retirement home | Mail Online: Deciding that they had a right to die in the way they wanted, the couple decided they would simply refuse food and water at their assisted living facility at the Village at Alameda, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Three days into their fast, the couple told their plan to staff at the facility. Administrators immediately called 911, citing an attempted suicide. After they refused staff's orders to eat again, they were handed their eviction papers. The next day they moved into a private residence. One week later, Armond Rudolph died. His 90-year-old wife died the following day.

B.C. Supreme Court tosses out challenge to assisted-suicide law

B.C. Supreme Court tosses out challenge to assisted-suicide law: The Farewell Foundation's attempt to challenge the section of the Criminal Code banning assisted suicide has been tossed out by a British Columbia Supreme Court judge. Justice Lynn Smith ruled the foundation did not have a strong enough case to challenge the law, saying anonymous members of the group must identify themselves in order to prove the law directly affects them. However, Smith invited the group to apply to intervene in a parallel right-to-die case led by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.

From brain injury to colossal achievement

Doug Markgraf was riding into Philadelphia when a hit-and-run driver left him for dead. After 14 days in a coma, he awoke with a few broken bones, a brain injury, and an incredible, intense, single desire. "If I can ever ride a bike again," he said to himself, "I'm going to ride as far as I can."

This summer, he rode as far as he could, 3,200 miles across the country. He carried five helmets on the back of his bike, as conversation starters. He is convinced that wearing a helmet saved his life on May 31, 2006, and he shared that message across America. His mission all along was to prove to the world and himself that people can recover from brain injuries, and he stopped and spoke at about 15 hospitals and rehab centers along the way. Philadelphia Inquirer

Study casts doubt on effectiveness of hospitalist care

amednews: Study casts doubt on effectiveness of hospitalist care :: Aug. 5, 2011 ... American Medical News: The patients cared for by hospitalists were discharged more than half a day earlier than patients treated by their primary care physicians, and their hospital charges were $282 lower on average. But the hospitalists' patients were 18% more likely to visit the emergency department within 30 days of leaving the hospital and 8% likelier to be rehospitalized within a month.

Alzheimer's kills memories, not emotions

Alzheimer's kills memories, not emotions: Patients with Alzheimer's-type memory loss can remember the emotional imprint of an experience even after they have forgotten the event itself.

Abortion never had a chance with us: our experience having a disabled child

Abortion never had a chance with us: our experience having a disabled child | LifeSiteNews.com: We went in for a sonogram and our entire happy existence came crashing down around us. The doctor said that it was hard to tell, but she thought that she saw a cleft lip and palate. But just to be sure, she was going to send us to a specialist, who told us that not only did our baby girl have a cleft lip and palate, but she also had no stomach, and problems with her heart. He needed us to come back in a week to try another test.

After a very difficult week of waiting, the doctor reaffirmed his earlier suspicions ended the visit telling us we had “options.” We asked, “What do you mean, options”? And then it clicked. He was referring to abortion.

Treatment of sleep-disordered breathing may prevent dementia

Study: Treatment of sleep-disordered breathing may prevent dementia: Treating a sleep disorder to improve oxygen flow through the body may also help lower the risk of dementia in older-age people, according to a new study.
The research, just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, must be replicated. But it's exciting nonetheless because it suggests a rare, successful measure that may prevent at least some cases of cognitive impairment.

Canada's nationalized healthcare system failing, fractured

'Once proud' system failing, fractured, report says: Cancelled surgeries. Patients who need hospital care but who can't get it. Families forced to sell their homes to pay for an autistic child's treatment. In person and online, thousands of Canadians who participated in a nationwide consultation over the past year say the country's health system is faltering badly and that more needs to be done to deliver care when and where it's needed. The nation's 'once proud' health system is fundamentally fractured and failing - especially for vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, aboriginal peoples and those with mental illness - says a report from the Canadian Medical Association.

Police: Disabled La. boy, 7, decapitated by dad

Police: Disabled La. boy, 7, decapitated by dad | nola.com: A Louisiana man told investigators he decapitated his disabled 7-year-old son because he had grown tired of caring for the boy, who had cerebral palsy and heart problems, needed a feeding tube and used a wheelchair, police said.

His mother said through tears, "He was my star. No matter what people think or say, he was always top priority in my life. I've done everything I can for him."

Jori had attended South Thibodaux since pre-kindergarten, principal Diane Smith said. "Everyone loved him. Even though he could not express in words his feelings to us, he did it with his smile," she said.

Doctor ‘does not regret actions’

Doctor ‘does not regret actions’ - World News | IOL News | IOL.co.za: A French emergency doctor has admitted to killing elderly sick patients with lethal injections, in apparent cases of euthanasia. Media reported that the doctor had administered the lethal injections “to shorten the suffering of his patients.” He could face life in prison.

“He did the same thing before. My client has been accompanying people to the end of their lives for many years. I cannot say how many,” the doctor's lawyer told the daily Le Parisien. “He confessed to investigators, without going into the details of each case.”

Caregiver support group meets Thursday

Mike Faber, the Associate Director of the Older Learner Center, will be speaking on Understanding Aging in Relationship to Caregiving. This is a great group to attend whether you are a veteran caregiver, or if you are relatively new caring for yourself while you are caring for others. The group will be in session from 6:30 to 8:30 and will meet at SarahCare. Light refreshments will be served. 

SarahCare Adult Day Center
Metro Health Village
2024 Health Drive, Suite B
Wyoming, MI 49519
Phone: 616.530.6700
www.sarahcare.com

Improv For Alzheimer's: 'A Sense Of Accomplishment'

Improv For Alzheimer's: 'A Sense Of Accomplishment' : NPR: A team of researchers from Chicago — a city known for improvisational theater — is testing a new idea of whether unscripted theater games can affect the well-being of these patients.

'Improv is all about being in the moment, which for someone with memory loss, that is a very safe place,' says Mary O'Hara, a social worker at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. 'Maybe thinking about the past and trying to remember makes the person a little anxious or even a bit sad because their memory is failing. And maybe thinking about the future too much is also anxiety-provoking. So being in the moment is such a safe and a good place to be.'

Discworld's Terry Pratchett On Death And Deciding

Discworld's Terry Pratchett On Death And Deciding : NPR: Discworld author Terry Pratchett prefers not to use the word 'suicide' "because suicide is an irrational thing whereas I think that for some people asking for an assisted death is a very rational thing.' Pratchett says that's why he's considering assisted death — even though his Alzheimer's diagnosis could make it hard to recognize the right time to go.

The Missing Buddies

The Missing Buddies | ALL.org: Buddy Walks are large public events that allow people to see the beautiful faces and focus on the positive blessings individuals with Down syndrome bring to the communities they live in. Sadly during these celebrations there is rarely a mention of the silent, eugenic movement occurring in our culture which identifies, targets, and terminates [more than] 90 percent of future Buddy Walk participants.

Giffords' ordeal puts focus on coverage

Giffords' ordeal puts focus on coverage: Rep. Gabrielle Giffords owes her recovery in no small part to veterans with similar injuries. Doctors and rehabilitation specialists have learned a great deal from the treatment of traumatic brain injuries in veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. One in five veterans of those wars has suffered some form of brain trauma. Yet veterans' health care doesn't consistently cover cognitive rehabilitation therapy, the same therapy that has helped Giffords. Cognitive rehabilitation can include speech and communication therapies, and therapies to boost memory and social skills and relearn routine tasks such as getting dressed.

The Fading “Bright Line” of Consciousness In Life & Death Decisions

www.culture-of-life.org - The Fading “Bright Line” of Consciousness In Life & Death Decisions: The question, “What can M get out of life?” is misguided. It is true that most of life’s meaning is wrapped up in the conscious pursuit of human goods, in friendship and knowledge, inner peace and harmony with God. But life’s meaning is not exhausted by the purposeful pursuit of conscious goals. Even when consciousness has been lost, one great human good still remains: life. Traditional morality calls it the “intrinsic goodness of human bodily life.” And that goodness stands as a moral barrier between every person and every intention to harm or kill him or her.

Kill yourself if you must, but don't make me help

Kill yourself if you must, but don't make me help - Winnipeg Free Press: Killing oneself is the ultimate act of isolation, yet those who belong to groups such as the Farewell Foundation do not want to do it alone. They want the rest of Canadians, regardless of what moral scruples they may have about suicide, to join them as accomplices in their act by giving it a social sanction. That is the paradox of assisted suicide and truly cowardly.

Abortion Of Kids With Autism Doesn't See Children as Blessings

Abortion Of Kids With Autism Doesn't See Children as Blessings | LifeNews.com: The demonic “logic” behind targeting people with Down Syndrome can be applied to anyone with disabilities. A combination of fear, concern over the costs of caring for these kids, desires for a “perfect” child can prove irresistible. Medical technology may never enable us to “cure” things like autism, but it may enable us to identify — and target — autistic people in the womb.

What it's like to go without nutrition

Saving Ahmed from starvation - CNN.com: There is no way to dignify the description of death by starvation. It is neither quick nor painless. Not too long after the food is cut off, the body resorts to fuel reserves in the liver and fatty tissues. Once the fat is all gone, and the person is a skeleton of what he or she once was, the body searches for protein, and finds it in muscle tissue. Even the muscle of the heart is consumed, leaving someone drained and listless. The body shuts down. The pulse, the blood pressure and body temperature all precipitously drop.

The Modern Roman Colosseum: Euthanasia as a Spectator Sport

The Modern Roman Colosseum: Euthanasia as a Spectator Sport - Page 1 - Rachel Alexander - Townhall Conservative: A disturbing trend has developed over the last few years of broadcasting the suicides of the weak and elderly in society for entertainment. Much of it is due to the glamorization of assisted suicide by a Swiss suicide clinic known as Dignitas.

Get to Know: "Choice" Is An Illusion

"Choice" Is An Illusion: "We are a single issue group. We welcome everyone opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia regardless of your views on other issues."

Related: Montanans Against Assisted Suicide

LIFT training date changed to August 24-25

Due to scheduling conflicts, the LIFT Care Coordinator Training dates have changed to August 24-25.

Time: 8 am to 4 pm both days
Place: Grandville Baptist Church, 4325 40th St SW in Grandville, MI
Cost: $55 per person (includes a training manual and lunch both days)

(Registration is only $40 if you have a LIFT manual published before summer 2010)

To learn more/register, email or phone (616) 257-6800, 1-800-968-6086; ask for Sharlene.

Improving Taiwan's end-of-life care

Taiwan Today: In July, a Taiwanese terminal cancer patient had a party to bid farewell to her family and friends. News on this “living funeral” and the participants’ openness to death amazed readers in a society where talk of death is customarily avoided. The tendency to shun such communication has also hampered the advancement of end-of-life measures including palliative care, life support withdrawal and do-not-resuscitate orders.

In the face of this cultural taboo, hospice care began to develop in Taiwan thanks to the efforts of a group of medical professionals dedicated to ensuring that terminally ill patients get the best care possible, without overtreatment.

Medicare costs for hospice up 70%

Medicare costs for hospice up 70% - USATODAY.com: Medicare costs for hospice care have increased more than in any other health care sector as for-profit companies continue to gain a larger share of the end-of-life medical market, government records show.

From 2005 through 2009, Medicare spending on hospice care rose 70% to $4.31 billion, according to Medicare records. A recent report by the inspector general for Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicare, found for-profit hospices were paid 29% more per beneficiary than non-profit hospices. Medicare pays for 84% of all hospice patients. At the same time, some of the nation's largest for-profit hospice companies are paying multimillion-dollar settlements for fraud claims and facing multiple investigations from state and federal law enforcement agencies.

Let in the Light of Heaven

Let in the Light of Heaven | Radio | Joni and Friends: Broken necks, broken homes and broken hearts all have a way of crushing our illusions that this earth can ever keep its promises. Suffering has a way of lifting our sights and moving our eyes off of this world and onto the next. God knows that earth could never really satisfy us anyway, and so suffering is His way of blowing out all the lamps that make the here and now so appealing. Your hardships get your heart focusing on things above where we belong. Plus, your hardships prepare you to meet God when you get there.

Coping With Chemotherapy Side Effects

Coping With Chemotherapy Side Effects - Cancer Treatment - Everyday Health: Though complications can occur in your body during cancer treatment, these tips can help you cope.

Multiple Sclerosis Progression by Age

Multiple Sclerosis Progression by Age - MS Center - EverydayHealth.com: MS is a chronic illness — not a terminal one. While it can slightly shorten life span, many MS patients live to be 70 or 80 years old.

“I Wanted To Be A Doctor To Help Patients, Not Kill Them”

A Dutch doctor who has twice euthanized patients complains in the British Medical Journal of the stress that killing  causes her:

Although as a doctor I favour euthanasia, as a person I find it hard to perform. It is a great burden on my personal life and causes me extreme stress. The days before I performed my second (and so far last) euthanasia were very emotional. . . . There is also the stress of doing it right and waiting to see whether the committee decides you abided by the rules and will not prosecute.

Euthanasia law grants a patient the right to determine what is and is not psychologically and physically bearable. As a doctor I sometimes feel caught between my desire to do well and the fact that I have to be the means to a patient’s self determination. I wanted to be a doctor to help patients, not to kill them. 

Allena M Silvius general practitioner, Leyden, Netherlands

Wesley J.Smith comments, "[T]his letter illustrates a point rarely made: Euthanasia/assisted suicide isn’t ultimately about “patient choice,” but that of the doctor. If he or thinks your life not worth living, you get the poison. If not – of if it upsets the doctor’s “personal life” too much – you don’t."

Seeing God's Hand in Suffering

How to See God's Hand in Your Suffering - Desiring God: John Flavel (circa 1678) instructs readers to see God as the author of all circumstances in life, including suffering.

How I helped my mum to die

She told us when it was time for her to stop driving, sell her house, and move to a more supported environment. She worked out which sheltered accommodation would suit her best, what size flat she wanted, and which furniture to leave behind. Taking no chances, she hired a financial planner once she got there to guide the process. She made a living will without any prodding.

My mother was a realist. She neither expected to live for ever, nor wanted to. Now, humiliated by her helplessness, she wanted nothing so much as a dignified way to die. And so, as mother’s health slowly worsened, I counted on her to tell me when she was ready to go, and she counted on me to help her find a way out. Daily Mail

Condolence notes and casseroles: How to help friends in mourning

Condolence notes and casseroles: How to help friends in mourning. - By Meghan O'Rourke and Leeat Granek - Slate Magazine: Asked what would have helped them with their grief, the survey-takers talked again and again about acknowledgement of their grief. They wanted recognition of their loss and its uniqueness; they wanted help with practical matters; they wanted active emotional support. What they didn't want was to be offered false comfort in the form of empty platitudes. Acknowledgement, love, a receptive ear, help with the cooking, company—these were the basic supports that mourning rituals once provided.

Dehydrating the Cognitively Disabled To Death–The Never Ending Road |

Dehydrating the Cognitively Disabled To Death–The Never Ending Road |: We dehydrate profound cognitively disabled people to death in the USA – a death that comes slowly over about a two week period, often resulting in tissue cracking and even bleeding. We dress it up in nice clothes by claiming we are merely withdrawing unwanted medical treatment. But when the treatment is basic sustenance, not only are we intentionally causing death, but symbolically, we are saying that the dehydrated person’s life is so unworthy of being lived, we won’t even give them proper food or water.

Farran Prayer Letter

Farran Prayer Letter: Kyle and Heather report, "PTL! Operating expenses for the Care Home in Richards Bay, South Africa, are covered for the first year." Continue to pray because they need to raise ongoing operating expenses.

Caregiver Lunch and Learn

Thursday at SarahCare from 12-1pm. We have a good group already signed up; if you would like to join give us a call at 530-6700 and we'll add you to the list! On the menu tomorrow is Chef Salad, and don't forget-you can bring your loved one- all for no charge!

SarahCare Adult Day Center 

2024 Health Dr. Ste. B 

Wyoming, MI 49519 

phone (616) 530-6700 fax (616) 530-6767 

www.sarahcare.com 

I would also like to let you know about our SarahCare Caregivers Series for the next few months:

Thursday, August 18, 2011
Speaker: Mike Faber, Grand Rapids Community College
Topic: An Overview on Aging & Caregiving

Thursday, September 15, 2011
Speaker: Paula Nelson, Right At Home
Topic: Caregiver Self-Care & Stress Management

Thursday, November 17, 2011
Speaker: Joy Spahn, Alzheimer's Association
Topic: Alzheimer's & Dementia Care

On Humiliating Satan

On Humiliating Satan | Clay Jones: The only thing Job had to do to humiliate Satan in front of God and all the beings of the heavenly realm was to continue to honor God. Satan would be humiliated because it would not only prove him wrong but, even more importantly, it would prove that some beings will serve God even if their lives are miserable.

And this would justify God’s final judgment of Satan! After all, why did Satan rebel? Isn’t it because Satan thought he deserved more? The implication is, “If you gave me everything I had ever wanted, then I wouldn’t have rebelled either.”

So, like Job, when our life gets very hard, if we get fired, or our finances tank, or we get cancer, but we still honor God then we too humiliate Satan.

Another poll from euthanasia advocates to grab headlines

Christian Medical Comment: Another poll from the Voluntary Euthanasia Society (aka DID) to grab headlines ahead of new moves to legalise assisted suicide: The pro-euthanasia lobby have commissioned this latest survey to bolster support for their campaign to make assisted suicide legal for people who are terminally ill but they have so far failed to come up with precise definitions of ‘terminally ill’ or ‘disabled’ that have satisfied decision-makers and legislators.

Students could pay off debts by donating kidneys

Students could pay off debts by donating kidneys, says academic - Telegraph: The idea that you can sell one of your organs to pay off a substantial debt, such as a student loan, will undoubtedly appeal to some people. However, if money is their only motivation, they may well find that they come to regret their decision at a later date.

Elder Abuse

Elder Abuse, August 3, 2011, Hildreth et al. 306 (5): 568 — JAMA: Elder abuse refers to the mistreatment of an older adult that threatens his or her health or safety. Although the abuse may be caused by a person who is in a position of trust, such as a family member or paid assistant, it also may be self-inflicted. In cases of self-neglect, an older person is unable to provide for his or her own needs (including hygiene, food, and housing) because of emotional, cognitive, or physical impairments. Elder abuse may result in depression, broken bones, sores, bruises, and death. Because persons experiencing elder abuse are often unable to seek help, friends, family, neighbors, or physicians may be in the best position to recognize and respond to an abusive situation.

Dr Death finds legal loophole

Dr Death finds legal loophole - Story - World - 3 News: Controversial euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke claims he's found a legal loophole, to import a drug used in assisted suicides. He plans to order nembutal for six terminally ill patients.

Actor admits killing severely ill wife

When police were called to Bill and Joan Mungall's home, he said: "She's not in pain anymore. She was in such pain last night." He also told a doctor: "I couldn't cope any more. I killed her. It's been four years now."

But prosecutor Mark Dennis QC said: "There is no suggestion that his wife wanted to end her life prematurely, nor had she encouraged the defendant to act as he did." The day before she was found dead nurses found her "typically upbeat and in positive mood" during a home visit. However, Mungall was "reluctant to accept outside help" and had failed to accept his wife would need palliative care at a local hospice, the court heard.

Mr Dennis added: "He developed a depressive illness which led him to snap on the morning of December." He said: "This was a deliberate killing. It was not assisted suicide, nor did it even come close to that. There is no evidence she asked that morning to be killed or asked the day before to be killed." Guardian

The disabled woman murdered by a gang of savages whom she thought were her friends

The disabled woman abandoned to be murdered for fun by a gang of savages who she thought were her friends | Mail Online: Everyone who came across Gemma, 27, in her home town of Rugby knew that she was different. She had a rare congenital disorder that caused her serious learning difficulties, and a distinctive physical appearance with a large head and crossed eyes.

Gemma would talk to anybody who showed her the slightest attention – and it was her trusting friendliness that was ultimately to cost her her life. Last week, three young people were convicted of Gemma’s brutal murder on a disused railway line, an act that followed hours of abuse in a flat. Two others were found guilty of her manslaughter and all five were unanimously convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

NHS delays operations 'as it waits for patients to die or go private'

NHS delays operations 'as it waits for patients to die or go private' - Telegraph: Health service trusts are “imposing pain and inconvenience” by making patients wait longer than necessary, in some cases as long as four months, the study found.
Executives believe the delays mean some people will remove themselves from lists “either by dying or by paying for their own treatment”

7 Ways to Sharpen Your People Skills

7 Ways to Sharpen Your People Skills - Healthy Living Center - EverydayHealth.com: There are several strategies you can practice to improve your people skills in dealing with different personalities and challenging situations … and boost your confidence level in the process.