Dying Talks™: What’s Your Understanding of Your Diagnosis?
For those facing end of life and their loved ones - a place to explore what may lie ahead
Welcome to the first topic in my Dying Talks™ series. These posts are specifically for those facing end of life and are based on my Dying Talks™ videos.
Of course, they may be helpful for family members and other loved ones, too.
I’ll eventually be posting each topic in the series here, but if you’d like to see all episodes sooner-rather-than-later, the videos are available on my YouTube channel.
What’s your understanding of your diagnosis?
In this short post, we’re going to talk about how well you understand your diagnosis.
When I was working in the field in hospice, my first meeting in the home with a newly admitted patient and family would include something along the lines of, “Tell me what your doctor said.” Because I wanted to make sure the patient and I were on the same page.
Too often, what I found was that the information we’d received on the patient’s record either wasn’t what the patient had been told, or it wasn’t what the patient heard.
Which is very common with all the stress involved when receiving difficult news. For many, once they hear they have a poor prognosis, they’re not able to absorb much after that.
As a result, some may start the end-of-life journey or be referred to hospice without really understanding what’s going on.
So, I’d like to encourage you to ask questions if you don’t quite understand what’s happening with your health.
Maybe you’ve been referred to a hospice program or a palliative care program and aren’t clear about the reason.
Or maybe questions came up after the visit. That happens all the time. After leaving your provider’s office, you may think, “I should’ve asked about this or that.”
Since clarity is so important during this season, please ask what you need to ask to find the answers you need.
Empower yourself
And please don’t be intimidated by the healthcare system. Some people have wonderful relationships with their healthcare providers. Others, maybe not so much.
But one thing’s for sure: you have a right to know what’s going on with your health, so empower yourself by learning more about your specific situation.
Of course, your provider may not have all the answers you need, but even knowing that can be helpful.
Also, your provider may think that since that hard-news discussion took place, you understand everything that was said. If that’s not the case, it’s important for them to know that, too.
So, I encourage you to make sure you have a clear understanding of your diagnosis and know what the plan will be going forward.
Important questions
And if you haven’t had the chance to ask your provider a few direct questions, maybe it’s time to do that, too. Here are a few to consider:
“What’s my prognosis?”
“How long do you think I have?”
“What do you think my life is going to look like in the next six months or so?”
You might not be ready to ask hard questions like these, but when you are, it’s not only okay - but important to help you make decisions and plan.
I also encourage you to:
Write down your questions before your visit.
Take notes during the visit or have someone with you who can.
Don’t let anybody rush you.
Be sure your questions have been answered before you leave.
This is a sacred season for you, and you need all the support you can get. Because it can also be a difficult one.
So, if you’ve been given hard end-of-life news and anything about that is confusing, please contact your healthcare provider to ask more.
Disclaimer: Every person’s situation is unique, and you should speak with your own healthcare team about your needs. This is general education and not medical advice.
And if you’d like to have my daily video/text devotionals delivered to your inbox each morning, you can subscribe to Bibles & Bathrobes™ here:
Also, if you haven’t yet picked up your copy of Final Moment, my debut bestselling Christian novel about the last 60 seconds before death, you can snag that here. If you’d like a copy but money is tight, please DM me, and I’ll send you one free of charge.