Honouring ICU Professionals
October 23-29 is Canadian Intensive Care Week. It’s a time to profoundly reflect on the tremendous service our colleagues working in intensive care have rendered to society during the past years of the pandemic and continue to do so under such adverse circumstances. I spent more than 20 years working in the ICU in Kingston […]
Do You Have ‘Fixer Syndrome’?
I am a family caregiver to both my parents and my father-in-law. I value this role and wholeheartedly take on this responsibility to support my parents and in-laws in the final stages of their lives (for more on this see blog). As a critical care doctor, I am trained to diagnose and treat. I bring […]
How to Prevent Future Family Conflict
When a loved one is dying or experiencing a serious illness, family conflict can easily arise as decisions need to be made in an emotionally charged situation. How can we prevent future family conflict from happening? Much can be learned from those that have gone before you on the same path. When I am out […]
Long-term Care
If you, or a loved one is living in long-term care and doing your advance serious illness planning, here are some things to think about. Is the Long-term Care home the best location? Some people will develop a serious illness while residing in a long-term care home. Many patients view staying at their residence, rather […]
Introduction to Will & Estate Planning
Why Having a Will is Important To understand why will and estate planning is important, let’s begin by sharing a reference we will likely recall seeing on the news several years ago. The famous musician, Prince, was rumoured to have died without a will.[1] Ironically, while he was alive he took great care of maintaining […]
Entrusting Financial Decisions in a Power of Attorney
Who is going to make decisions for you if you can’t? In situations where you are alive but unable to look after yourself, other people will need to make decisions for you. They may take part in deciding: How much of a say in these decisions do you want to have? In fact, a lot […]
Why we need to plan for serious illness, not end-of-life
We all need to start doing advance serious illness planning (not traditional advance care planning) right now. Like many Canadians, these past 20 odd months have forced me to reflect more on my health, the health of my family, and the health of the health care system. I see how the pandemic brought tremendous change […]
Preparing for Future Periods of Incapacitation
Many people plan for their death by creating a will, and prepaying for their funeral. But what is less common is planning for the possibility of becoming incapacitated. However, planning for incapacitation is just as important. If one fails to plan, it can cause a lot of strife and conflict amongst their loved ones. Legal […]
What is Comfort Care?
Comfort care can be provided in a hospital, a long-term care home, a hospice, or at home. The goal is to keep you as comfortable as possible, so the focus is NOT on curing you. For example, you may receive medications to help with pain or breathing problems. However, you may not receive curative treatments, […]
What is Medical Care?
Medical care is given in the general part of the hospital, often known as a hospital ward. People who are receiving it usually have conditions such as: Infections, like pneumonia, that is not bad enough to require ICU care problems due to an ongoing disease, such as diabetes mild heart attacks or strokes the need […]
