Life's a Dance
No Woman "Wants" to Have to Choose
by Margaret B. Moss
published in the Hartford Courant, Sunday, 3.6.2016
At the age of 28, I made a rare appearance at my local church to seek solace. Two days earlier, I had suffered a miscarriage 11½ weeks into what was assumed to be a healthy pregnancy.
I sat in the rear of the church, hoping to derive comfort from this spiritual place. The minister began by announcing that this was a day to celebrate mothers. If this was God's idea of a joke, I thought it was a perverse juxtaposition of tragedy and epiphany... (Click link above for full story.)
CJIS Newsletters, 2012-2013
Links to the newsletters I designed and wrote for the Criminal Justice Information System:
Press Release: CISS Closer to Reality
CJIS Newsletter – July 2012
CJIS Newsletter – August 2012
CJIS Newsletter – September 2012
CJIS Newsletter – October 2012
CJIS Newsletter – November 2012
CJIS Newsletter – December 2012
CJIS Newsletter – January 2013
CJIS Newsletter – February 2013
CJIS Newsletter – March 2013
CJIS Newsletter – April 2013
CJIS Newsletter – May 2013
CJIS Newsletter – June 2013
The Hospital of Central Connecticut — 2005-07
Health and You, April 2007 Click for a PDF file of the entire magazine
Excerpt from "The Wolfson Palliative Care Program: Easing Pain at the End of Life"
Alice Smith is doing everything she can to prepare herself for the inevitability of her son’s death. He is 48. His liver and kidneys have ceased to function, a result of chronic disease. Alice’s mind is racing with the details surrounding his death — obtaining legal guardianship of her teenage granddaughter, a funeral, cremation, the complicated family dynamics. David’s Aunt Kathryn reminisces at his bedside about what a sweet child he was and the fun they had before he got sick. David was admitted to the hospital a week ago. His physician told Alice* his liver and kidney damage was irreversible, but Alice held on to a slim hope. Two days ago, the doctor told her David’s death would come soon. This is a nightmare, even for a woman who has already endured so much.
She talks about where she will keep his ashes.“I can keep him close,”she says. That is one of the easier decisions.“I don’t want to start crying,”she says, trying to hold back the tears running down her face. Social worker Janice Vough, MSW, gently reminds her that she needs to cry and not keep her emotions bottled up.
The most difficult decision was whether to continue medical interventions, when all indications were that such interventions would not only be futile, but might increase David’s suffering.
Alice chose the path of least suffering.
(from "The Wolfson Palliative Care Program: Easing Pain at the End of Life" Click below for full story.)
Margaret M. DeGraaf, Editor
Feature (page 10) Surviving Cancer: Leading-Edge Radiation Oncology Treatments Save Lives
Feature (page 13) The Wolfson Palliative Care Program: Easing Pain at the End of Life
Health and You, November 2006 Click for a PDF file of the entire magazine
Margaret M. DeGraaf, Editor
Feature (page 10) Surviving Cancer: Leading-Edge Radiation Oncology Treatments Save Lives
Feature (page 13) The Wolfson Palliative Care Program: Easing Pain at the End of Life
Health and You, November 2006 Click for a PDF file of the entire magazine
Margaret M. DeGraaf, Editor
Feature (page 7) Bariatric Surgery: Losing Weight & Discovering a New Life
Feature (page 13) Joint Replacement Surgery: Minimally Invasive to Life and Limbs
Treating Yourself column (page 26) Chocolate: Beyond Your Taste Buds
Alice Smith is doing everything she can to prepare herself for the inevitability of her son’s death. He is 48. His liver and kidneys have ceased to function, a result of chronic disease. Alice’s mind is racing with the details surrounding his death — obtaining legal guardianship of her teenage granddaughter, a funeral, cremation, the complicated family dynamics. David’s Aunt Kathryn reminisces at his bedside about what a sweet child he was and the fun they had before he got sick. David was admitted to the hospital a week ago. His physician told Alice* his liver and kidney damage was irreversible, but Alice held on to a slim hope. Two days ago, the doctor told her David’s death would come soon. This is a nightmare, even for a woman who has already endured so much.
She talks about where she will keep his ashes.“I can keep him close,”she says. That is one of the easier decisions.“I don’t want to start crying,”she says, trying to hold back the tears running down her face. Social worker Janice Vough, MSW, gently reminds her that she needs to cry and not keep her emotions bottled up.
The most difficult decision was whether to continue medical interventions, when all indications were that such interventions would not only be futile, but might increase David’s suffering.
Alice chose the path of least suffering.
(from "The Wolfson Palliative Care Program: Easing Pain at the End of Life" Click below for full story.)
From Avon Old Farms School
Avonian, Fall 2004 Click on title for a PDF of the entire magazine
Margaret M. DeGraaf, Director of Publications
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