End of Life Archives - Arthur M. Lauretano, MD, MS, FACS

This is the Reason a Humbling End-Of-Life Conversation Makes Me Grateful

December 17, 2016 by Arthur Lauretano, MD 3 Comments

This was a unique end-of-life scenario, at least in my experience.

Our Thursday morning Head and Neck Cancer Clinic had been busy, as usual. It was a particularly optimistic day, with most of the patients being follow-up patients in remission. The new patients that morning, being evaluated for recently diagnosed cancers, all had very treatable disease.

Our last patient of the day, however, was a wonderful man who had extensive skin cancer that eroded into bone, including the skull bone, and it had recurred in spite of multiple treatment modalities. At this point, this was end-stage, or terminal, cancer.

Is There a Right Time For End-of-Life Planning?

October 16, 2016 by Arthur Lauretano, MD 4 Comments

You don’t realize it’s the last breath until the next one never happens. At least, that has been my experience when watching someone die, pass away or, in medical terms, expire.

We typically don’t think about breathing, either our own or that of others. It’s similar to the effect one gets when there is a power failure in the middle of the night–you’re alerted to the power failure by the sudden silence. All those hums and rumbles from refrigerators, furnaces, and humidifiers abruptly shut down, and the silence is audible. This has been my experience when patients take their last breath.