Caregiving and Hospice, August 24 - August 30, 2014

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Callene Bentoncoury: Hospice enhances life for the dying, http://j.mp/1lnn1uu « Arizona Daily Star

How to Complain to Medicare, http://j.mp/1qEX0XI « The New Old Age

Confessions Of a New Cane User, http://j.mp/XU6298 « The Intentional Caregiver

Understanding and Managing Grief, August 24 - August 30, 2014

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Solving the Problem of Grief: The Solution Is Not What You Think, http://j.mp/1Cdaxeh « HuffPost Healthy Living

The War on Grief, http://j.mp/Z22T7t « HuffPost Healthy Living

25 Years After Losing My Father to Suicide, Sadness Resurfaces, http://j.mp/1otsHy4 « HuffPost GPS for the Soul

Coping with Pet Loss, August 24 - August 30, 2014

Best selection from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

End-of-Life Care: How to Help Pets -- and Owners, http://j.mp/1svfY1u « VetStreet

Anticipatory Grief and Mourning: Suggested Resources

[Reviewed and updated on April 7, 2024.]

So off they went together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place in the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.  ~ A. A. Milne

A reader writes: I am the mother of a 6-year-old with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). His life expectancy is 20 years old. I am also an LPC intern currently working as a crisis counselor for disaster victims. I am interested in specializing in grief, learning more about anitcipatory grief, and assisting other families that are dealing with expected loss. I see anticipatory grief as largely overlooked in the grief and loss field. What are the best resources for those experiencing anticipatory grief?

Caregiving and Hospice, August 17 - August 23

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Valuable Lessons: 10 Pieces of Advice From a Young Caregiver, http://j.mp/1vdIpCX « HuffPost Healthy Living

New senior living website, http://j.mp/VI9sd7 « Be.Group

5 Things To Remember When A Friend is Grieving, http://j.mp/XsHVxY « Maria Shriver

Understanding and Managing Grief, August 17 - August 23

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Dave Brown's cartoon commentary on the horrific death of journalist James Foley,  j.mp/1mDDvKq « Twitter

Overdose Awareness Day 2014 is Sunday, August 31, http://j.mp/1ABiurQ « What's Your Grief?

Summing It All Up: Writing An Obituary, http://j.mp/1rorpw2 « Caring with Confidence

Coping with Pet Loss, August 17 - August 23

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Touching, insightful article about her dog's last days: Going Home, http://j.mp/1AETBf2 « Savvy Self Growth

Second Installment: Jack's Special Last Day, http://j.mp/1qxLWYB « Savvy Self Growth

Third Installment: Jack's Final Car Trip http://j.mp/1ziwgx2 « Savvy Self Growth

Grief: Understanding The Process

Source

[Reviewed and updated December 10, 2024]

Grief will make a new person out of you, if it doesn't kill you in the making.  ~ Stephanie Ericsson

Few of us are prepared to face the excruciating pain associated with the death of a loved one. We think we cannot bear it, that to feel such sorrow is abnormal, as if we're going mad. Yet loss is a natural part of life's cycle of growth, decay and rebirth. We know that when someone dearly loved is lost, certain feelings and reactions will be experienced by most people. Still, there is no rule book that works for everyone, because how we experience grief ~ and for how long ~ is uniquely personal and distinct. Finding your way through grief successfully requires some knowledge and understanding of the grief process, and a willingness to do the work of mourning.

Caregiving and Hospice, August 10 - August 16, 2014

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Communicating with the hospice patient with dementia, http://j.mp/VnABC6 « Caring with Confidence

Excellent description of the hospice chaplain's role: A Hospice Chaplain's Tale, http://j.mp/1l6i21r « Jewish Journal

Depression is a Duplicitous Asshole, http://j.mp/1oIq4Nz « The Manifest-Station

Understanding and Managing Grief, August 10 - August 16, 2014

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Robin Williams Didn't Kill Himself, http://j.mp/1pn5LVG « PopChassid

Pause and Think Twice Before You Speak to Someone Who Is Grieving,  http://j.mp/1kJJ6Da « Stunned by Grief

Need help now? Here's how to find it ~ on campus and in your community, http://j.mp/1nZuydK « Half of Us

Coping with Pet Loss, August 10 - August 16, 2014

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Our Pet Loss Support Group helps you learn to grieve in a healthy way with those going through the same process, pic.twitter.com/TLWw64mzdz « Hospice of Santa Barbara

Veterinarian specializes in expanding field of end-of-life care for pets, http://j.mp/1oGx8W5 « Kentucky.com

This Friday is Check the Chip Day,  http://j.mp/1sugG2R « Spot Speaks

Helping Seniors with Pet Loss

Source

[Reviewed and updated June 5, 2021]

We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we would still live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan.  ~ Irving Townsend

Loss of a beloved pet is difficult under any circumstances, but it can be particularly so for people in their senior years, whose most consistent experience at this stage of life is loss. By now they have lost parents, spouses, siblings, children or close friends to death. Their physical strength, stamina and mobility have lessened. With retirement, their identity with a prior occupation is lost, along with the usual routine and the opportunity for socialization in the workplace. If living on a fixed income, even their former standard of living is lost.

Caregiving and Hospice, August 3 - August 9, 2014

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

The Comfort of Caregiver Support Groups, http://j.mp/1kLnBlM « The Caregiver Space

The moralities of comfort and cure at end of life, http://j.mp/V14lEK « Caring with Confidence

On being treated like a nobody in the hospital ~ and the author is a physician! http://j.mp/XEvAGJ « Musings of a Distractible Mind

Understanding and Managing Grief, August 3 - August 9, 2014

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Tips for Coping with Traumatic Loss, http://j.mp/1yfjgYD « Open to Hope

Continuing Bonds: A Journal Exercise, http://j.mp/1nBePRY « What's Your Grief?

Review: Coloring Book for Child Coping with Death, http://j.mp/1yddlDs « Seven Ponds Blog

Coping with Pet Loss, August 3 - August 9, 2014

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Yes! Veterinary mobility act becomes law, http://j.mp/1zKORnH « AVMA@Work

What Not To Say To Someone Grieving A Pet, http://j.mp/1kiKo88 « HuffPost The Third Metric

In Grief: Coping with STUGs (Subsequent Temporary Upsurges of Grief)

Find the updated version of this post here:

Coping with STUGs (Subsequent Temporary Upsurges of Grief

If the future seems overwhelming, remember that it comes one moment at a time.  ~ Beth Mende Conny

A reader writes: Since my husband died, I’ve grown used to having mood swings and waking up feeling pretty good one day and deeply depressed the next. I know these are normal grief reactions, and when one of the “rotten” days comes along it helps to tell myself it will pass. But then, even in the middle of a good day, sometimes suddenly the feelings of loss and hurt and abandonment overpower me with a force that’s like a direct hit from a shotgun. And everything I was doing comes to a complete halt and I’m immobilized and can’t do a thing, mentally or physically. Sometimes I’ll recover in a few hours, especially after a good cry. But at other times, it may take a day or two before I can bounce back. I’ve had these extreme shutdown spells so many times now, you’d think I would have learned a little about how to cope with them, or at least have some forewarning that another spell is coming on so I could prepare. But I don’t understand it—each time it happens, it’s like the first time and I’m caught by surprise. Why am I not getting any better at predicting or handling these crises?

I know I need to pay attention to my grief, and I do. But I’d like to have better control over the shutdown spells because I don’t know what to do when their timing creates problems in the rest of my life. For example, I had an extended shutdown spell just when I was struggling to complete an important project at work. There was much work to be done, and the deadline could not be postponed. I almost didn’t deliver on time because during my shutdown I was too paralyzed to do anything but cry! That’s my dilemma – grief by itself is difficult enough to live with, but the stress intensifies when life and work make demands during my shutdown times. When things are that bad for me, telling myself to “suck it up” and press ahead isn’t helpful – it’s like trying to run a marathon an hour after open heart surgery.

Caregiving and Hospice, July 27 - August 2, 2014

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

What is Palliative Care? - Palliative Medicine and Treatment, http://j.mp/1kcTdAk « Get Palliative Care

Honoring Veterans at End of Life: Understanding Goes a Long Way,  http://j.mp/1oey489 « Caring with Confidence

What your friends with cancer want you to know (but are afraid to say),  http://j.mp/1pKr2Fg « Roadkill Goldfish

Understanding and Managing Grief, July 27 - August 2, 2014

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Child Loss: Finding Support on Your Grief Journey, http://j.mp/1lmTVGu « Ezine Articles

What is Aromatherapy? Interview with Marika Fleri of Aroma Treasures, http://j.mp/1rVN1f6 « Seven Ponds Blog

Bibliotherapy: When books are prescribed to heal the mind, http://j.mp/1pNxk6Y « The Boston Globe

Coping with Pet Loss, July 27 - August 2, 2014

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Euthanasia: Why Some Owners Choose to Stay and Some Choose to Go, http://j.mp/1uTiyE5 « VetStreet

Beautiful video of the Rainbow Bridge set to music, http://j.mp/1rUKSDQ « YouTube

How Dogs With Cancer Can Live Better + Longer, http://j.mp/XmlqKO « Haley the Wonderdog