Table of Contents
Introduction xi
Part 1 Limits and Failures of American Medicine
Chapter 1 Good Death, Bad Death, Better Death? 3
Chapter 2 American Health Care: Failing the Elderly 12
Chapter 3 The Denial of Old Age: Immortal in America? 28
Chapter 4 The Median Is the Message 49
Part 2 Understanding Disease
Chapter 5 How Different Diseases Lead to Common Causes of Death 63
Chapter 6 Deathbed Scenarios: How Does the End Finally Arrive? 92
Chapter 7 Dad's Final Weeks 110
Chapter 8 How to Recognize a Terminal Diagnosis 119
Part 3 Practical Aspects of Planning for Death
Chapter 9 The Value of Your Prognosis 143
Chapter 10 The Hard Conversation 157
Chapter 11 Hospice Care 177
Chapter 12 Voluntary Refusal of Fluid and Food 196
Epilogue: Reflections and a Road Map 211
Abridged Chronology: Mom and Dad's Decline 224
Appendixes
Appendix I Advance Directives 229
Appendix II Dementia 245
Acknowledgments 255
Notes 257
Resource List 271
Index 275
About the Author 283