- Bedside manner for cancer patients.I have been trying to visit my mom every day and so has my sister. The visits usually last about 30 minutes. During that time she moans in pain, a lot, shares problems she is having with the staff although sometimes I think these encounters may not all be reality based, then she has some issue with her bed sore, or with incontinence and I have to send what ever child I have brought with me out of the room.
We usually also discuss eating more and making progress with me trying to gently prod and mom telling me not as gently to shut up.
All of this happens at every visit. Every visit. Without fail.
So I think this article is a turning point for me. I think I’m going to back the visits down to two or three times a week. I think that would be better for her, better for me, and definitely better for our relationship.tags: cancer
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What if I told you that your visit does more harm than good in most instances? I come to this conclusion after my 30 years of talking to and treating cancer patients.
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Would you at least think about it? Would you perhaps, if you see some truth in what I am about to say, consider visiting them less often and for shorter periods?
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I already intimated earlier that the wrong words could hurt, depress and upset the patient. Moreover, the patient is fatigued and really needs his rest. Visitors increase the chances of passing on germs to the patient, who is already immunocompromised.
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You may wish to mull Albert Lim’s eight golden rules for visiting a cancer patient
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2. Keep your visit short. Fifteen minutes is a good rule of thumb, unless of course the patient clasps your hands in his and says ‘don’t leave me’, which happens more often in movies than in the hospital.
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3. You really don’t have to bring flowers, Brand’s essence of chicken or the latest article on alternative medicine (ozone therapy or is it the cytotron?) Books and magazines are suitable. CDs and DVDs for those who eschew reading.
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5. Do something positive. Give him some money. Put his kids through college. Write a letter to a government department for the patient. Take his kids out for a meal and a movie. Better yet, change his undies and give him a bed bath.
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- Obama Honor Puts Notre Dame’s Catholic Standing at Risk – Presidential Politics | Political News – FOXNews.comtags: obama
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The University of Notre Dame is taking a hit with President Obama’s commencement invitation, not just to its reputation
but its wallet. -
According to organizers of ReplaceJenkins.com, a Web site critical of Notre
Dame President Rev. John Jenkins’ decision to host President Obama, more than 1,400 pledges have been received from alumni
and donors promising to withhold future donations, a tally of nearly $14 million. -
“My strong hope is that serious Catholics will not let this particular incident drive them
away from Notre Dame, which remains very important in the life of the Church,” Professor Richard Garnett wrote FOXNews.com
earlier this month. “But, Notre Dame has allowed itself to get into a very unhealthy adversarial relationship with many bishops,
and lay Catholics.
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- Jill Stanek – Video of elderly priest Fr. Norman Weslin’s arrest at Notre DameThe shameful arrest of Father Norman Weslin at Notre Dame University in protest over pro-abortion President Barrack Obama’s appearance at the college today to receive an honorary degree.tags: obama, abortion, Catholic, areyousorryyet?
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This is exactly what bigotry and intolerance looks like. There is no way you could protest a coal fired electric plant using the exact same people and motions and get arrested.
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Wow, so Fr. Jenkins is authorizing the arrest of his own brothers in Christ for their protest of abortion? Amazing. 🙁
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I can’t imagine having the grace to sing while being arrested. God bless the good father!
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Let’s pretend Father Weslin is an animal rights extremist who is protesting the opening of a fur store while wearing only a faux fur loincloth.
He would be a hero to the left and the media.
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If this does not shame you nothing will Father Jenkins. Where are the bishops?
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on, I’d hate to be those cops right now. The judgement is coming. They didn’t have to do that. What did the priest even do?
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- Obama Notre Dame Speech: FULL TEXTtags: catholic, obama, abortion
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The strong too often dominate the weak,
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Those who speak out against stem cell research may be rooted in admirable conviction about the sacredness of life, but so are the parents of a child with juvenile diabetes who are convinced that their son’s or daughter’s hardships can be relieved.
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Nowhere do these questions come up more powerfully than on the issue of abortion.
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As I considered the controversy surrounding my visit here, I was reminded of an encounter I had during my Senate campaign, one that I describe in a book I wrote called The Audacity of Hope. A few days after I won the Democratic nomination, I received an email from a doctor who told me that while he voted for me in the primary, he had a serious concern that might prevent him from voting for me in the general election. He described himself as a Christian who was strongly pro-life, but that’s not what was preventing him from voting for me.
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What bothered the doctor was an entry that my campaign staff had posted on my website – an entry that said I would fight “right-wing ideologues who want to take away a woman’s right to choose.” The doctor said that he had assumed I was a reasonable person, but that if I truly believed that every pro-life individual was simply an ideologue who wanted to inflict suffering on women, then I was not very reasonable. He wrote, “I do not ask at this point that you oppose abortion, only that you speak about this issue in fair-minded words.”
Fair-minded words.
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That’s when we begin to say, “Maybe we won’t agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions.
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So let’s work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term. Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded in clear ethics and sound science, as well as respect for the equality of women.”
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No matter how much we may want to fudge it – indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory – the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable. Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.
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Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words.
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I was not raised in a particularly religious household,
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And yet, he was congenial and gentle in his persuasion, always trying to bring people together; always trying to find common ground. Just before he died, a reporter asked Cardinal Bernardin about this approach to his ministry. And he said, “You can’t really get on with preaching the Gospel until you’ve touched minds and hearts.”
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In this world of competing claims about what is right and what is true, have confidence in the values with which you’ve been raised and educated. Be unafraid to speak your mind when those values are at stake. Hold firm to your faith and allow it to guide you on your journey. Stand as a lighthouse.
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This doubt should not push us away from our faith. But it should humble us. It should temper our passions, and cause us to be wary of self-righteousness. It should compel us to remain open, and curious, and eager to continue the moral and spiritual debate that began for so many of you within the walls of Notre Dame.
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- Prepare for MassA site to help Catholics, particularly the youth, prepare for mass. tags: catechesis, Catholic, prayer, mass, scripture
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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