Several weeks ago I was listening to NPR and heard Atul Gawande being interviewed about his new book, Being Mortal, about modern medicine. We are all guilty of complaining about modern medicine, how doctors no longer touch us when examining us; and how the billing for services never seems appropriate when we have to come out of our pockets. We rarely talk about what matters in the end however: whether we will be allowed to die the way we choose. Atul Gawande’s Book Being Mortal addresses this question.
Who Is Atul Gawande?
Gawande is a practicing surgeon and writer who in this book helps us learn how to have the hard conversations about dying. The book jacket says “Being Mortal shows how the ultimate goal is not a good death but a good life—all the way to the end.”
While out here in SoCal, I had an opportunity to meet and briefly chat with Dr. Gawande at a PBS Press Day. PBS was rolling out some absolutely fascinating programming. Tomorrow night, they will air Being Mortal. Dr. Gawande of course has to have this conversation with his patients often in his practice. Things were different when he experienced the end of life of his father. His father made certain decisions about having a good life all the way to the end which may have run counter to what Dr. Gawande’s mother might have wanted. They supported his dad’s wishes however. We know that because he had a conversation with his dad so that he would know what they were fighting for, a crucial determinant in these circumstances. Gawande’s book followed 200 families, a hospice nurse and what the book jacket calls, reformers who are turning nursing homes upside down. I was curious to learn whether there were cultural markers, whether his father for instance approached his decisions differently from patients from other cultures. I learned this book was not about that. But it was an interesting question to me.
What is Atul Gawande’s message?
My absolute takeaway from reading Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal was that hope is not a plan. When people are in a bad space there is an inability to make good decisions. One of the most important questions we all must answer for ourselves and our love ones, according to Dr. Gawande, is what priorities do we have besides living longer.
Does having this conversation upset you?
Please check your local PBS channels. Being Mortal is airing tomorrow night, February 10th.
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