Long ago two countries had been waging war for supremacy. In the course of war some doctors had been given medical help to the wounded soldiers.They had been writing ‘dead’ on the heads of dead soldiers.The sweepers too had been removing them to the burial ground. By mistake one doctor had written ‘dead’ on the heads of a wounded soldier.While the soldier was removed to the burial ground he started shouting. “Leave Me Where I’am, I’m still alive “. The sweeper shot back,”Shut Up.Do you Know more than doctor ? you must be buried by all means !”
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Trust Within 
lolzzz!!
there goes common sense out the window 😛
lolsss
heya
how ya been….its been a long time since i last checked ur site…
keep it up
Dominated by religion in the past and by medicine in the present: the idea of what constitutes a good death has changed in different cultures and societies throughout history, perhaps nowhere more so than in our globalised, Western cultures. After a period of individualisation, shared experiences with fellow sufferers now seem to be increasing in popularity
Here is an account of the death of a French peasant in the 19th century:
“She contracted a summer cholera. After four days she asked to see the village priest, who came and wanted to give her the last rites. ‘Not yet, M. le curé; I’ll let you know when the time comes.’ Two days later: ‘Go and tell M. le curé to bring me Extreme Unction.’
This woman died a good death according to the lights of her society, but this is very different from the good death of modern Western societies. Firstly, she wanted to see the priest, not the doctor; today, dying is ruled not by religion but by medicine. Secondly, she died in a local community in which everyone knew their script; today, palliative care encourages individuals to write their own scripts for dying, as they do for living. Thirdly, the ars moriendi of her time assumed that she would die in a few days of an infectious disease; today, we are struggling to learn how to die much more slowly of the degenerative diseases of old age.
The good death depends on one’s society and culture. Norms for the good death therefore vary widely within a multicultural society.
“In India the older generation would keep old folks at home because they would have had the experience of supporting the dying at home, but here people expect health care professionals to do it.”
Quick dying, slow dying
The ars moriendi of the Middle Ages, in which dying people made their peace with their Maker, presumed that the person concerned would die in a matter of days. Now, however, modern medicine can diagnose early, but rarely cure definitely, major killers such as cancer, heart disease, dementia, and HIV infection. A lot of us are walking around knowing that we, or one we love, have a life threatening illness; and we may have to live with this knowledge for decades. Even when the terminal period starts, the doctor may tell us it will be months, or even a year or two. So the question about how to die well today is how to live for months, or even years, knowing that we are dying. This question is what both the palliative care and the euthanasia movements are addressing. It is also the question that many people who are caring for family members with stroke or dementia do not know how to begin to address.
Suttee: An Indian widow burns on her husband’s funeral pyre
Many of us would like to go out like a light one night after 20 years of active retirement, a good round of golf, and a nice meal, but we know the chances are slim. Few will have this privilege of sudden, unconscious death; many dread the lengthy, conscious death of cancer or dementia. So in Britain a ready market has developed for autobiographical books, newspaper columns, and television programmes about dying slowly, informing a perplexed society what it is like to die of cancer or care for someone with Alzheimer’s. We are witnessing the development of a new art of dying, with hospices, journalists, and dying people themselves writing the scripts for a new heroism in the face of the old Grim Reaper.
I began with a quote from a rural society, in which people died at home, surrounded by family and neighbours, helped on their way by the priests’ rites. By the end of the 20th century most people died in hospital, surrounded by tubes, relays of nurses, and junior house doctors. Nowadays, dying can take years in which medical staff may be present for only a few minutes, and family members have moved to the other end of the country or are left behind in Iraq or Zimbabwe. In this ultra-individualised, ultra-globalised world patients are increasingly finding their own paths, in the company of other patients, whom they meet through the internet and self help groups. So the last, perhaps prophetic, word goes to the founder of BACUP (the British Association of Cancer United Patients), which attempts to combine medical knowledge with that of patients and their families: “I finally met a fellow young patient with ovarian cancer. We shared our experiences… Through this, I realised that other patients could give me something unique which I could not obtain from my doctors or nurses, however caring.
what is a good death in this day and age?how long can u see your loved one suffer ,how long can u fight back your tears,,,,doctors…!it would have been better to be a faith healer in this time!
It’s a great website of yours. I surfed by and found it very informative. Bookmarked and check you back in a while
quite enjoyed your work .
We live in an age where society depends increasingly on ‘experts’ to guide in even very basic things. I use this example often in discrediting expert opinions.
I first hear this as a Jamaican joke. In that version the scene is a road crash and the dead are being put on a truck. On guy, covered in blood, stumbles his way towards getting off from among the dead: He had merely fainted, but because the doctor had pronounced him dead, one chap ordered him back on the truck and couldn’t accept swwith his natural senses that the doctor was wrong.
(With corrections)
We live in an age when society depends increasingly on ‘experts’ to guide in even very basic things. I use this example often in discrediting expert opinions.
I first hear this as a Jamaican joke. In that version the scene is a road crash and the dead are being put on a truck. One guy, covered in blood, stumbles his way towards getting off from among the dead: He had merely fainted, but because the doctor had pronounced him dead, one chap ordered him back on the truck; unable or unwilling to accept with his natural senses that the doctor was wrong.