Life and Death on Your Own Terms

This insightful, compassionate, and lucidly written handbook by a world-renowned cardiologist is also a personal testimonial by a surviving cancer patient and an informative guide to end-of-life issues. Dr. Basta relies on his medical expertise and first-hand experience with a life-threatening illness to critique our death-denying, technologically obsessed culture, and gives patients the means to take control of their final days. He underscores that physicians, the public, and society as a whole must come to terms with the unalterable truth that life is finite and that medical intervention beyond a certain point only prolongs suffering. When a cure or hope of a better life ceases to be achievable, he urges comprehensive palliative care, which attends to the patientfs physical comfort, emotional reassurance, and spiritual encouragement. To ensure that patients are empowered to provide for their final needs, he provides a revolutionary, clear, simple, and medical-scenario-specific Advance Care Plan, which gives each of us the opportunity to execute all-important life-and-death decisions before we are afflicted with a serious health problem and before decisions are irrevocable. In sum, this book is a tribute to the highly treasured doctor-patient relationship. Readers who feel that doctors have lost touch with the patientfs perspective will welcome Dr. Basta's empathy and caring tone.