"Medicine has transformed the dangers of birth, injury, and infectious disease from harrowing to manageable. But when it comes to the inescapable realities of aging and death, what medicine can do often runs counter to what it should. Through eye-opening research and gripping stories of his own patients and family, Gawande reveals the suffering produced by medicine's neglect of the wishes people might have beyond mere survival. To find out what those wishes are, we need to ask. We haven't been asking, but we can learn. ...
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"Medicine has transformed the dangers of birth, injury, and infectious disease from harrowing to manageable. But when it comes to the inescapable realities of aging and death, what medicine can do often runs counter to what it should. Through eye-opening research and gripping stories of his own patients and family, Gawande reveals the suffering produced by medicine's neglect of the wishes people might have beyond mere survival. To find out what those wishes are, we need to ask. We haven't been asking, but we can learn. [This] book shows how the ultimate goal is not a good death but a good life...all the way to the very end."--Back cover.
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What an insightful, honest, and most of all truthful assessment of what happens both internally and externally as we age. And we ALL will age and no pharmaceutical drug or cream can prevent it. It is a profound message of empathy, compassion, and the value of treating yourself and others with dignity and respect till the last breath. After all: what goes around comes around.