Death is a day worth living
Description
"Although many choose to live as if dead, all have the right to die alive. When my turn comes, I want my life to end in a good way: on that day, I want to be alive."
Dr. Ana Claudia Quintana Arantes's viral TED Talk on end-of-life care cemented her, a palliative care doctor in Brazil, as a global leader on living and dying well. Her international bestseller, Death Is a Day Worth Living, has been translated into eight languages and now is being offered in English for the first time.
Death Is a Day Worth Living touches a universal nerve, speaking to our most intimate moments and to the vital part of who we are as caregivers and loving family members. With her expertise, Dr. Quintana Arantes courageously takes on a subject that continues to be taboo, offering nothing short of a revolutionary way to reconsider the act of dying. We must care for each other, our loved ones, and patients in profound ways, even when there is no longer the possibility of cure.
"It is only through awareness of death that we hasten to build the being that we ought to be," writes Dr. Quintana Arantes as she conveys a powerful sense that we need to--and can--do more to ensure that everyone has a well-managed and lovingly supported death, and that to do so is a celebration of their life and humanity, and those of their caretakers.
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Publisher's Weekly Review
Brazilian doctor Arantes delivers profound lessons about death in her powerful English-language debut. Drawing on her experience as a palliative care physician, Arantes contends that while many "shrink from the reality of death," it's actually "a bridge to life" to be understood without fear. The author recalls how, when she was young, a beloved grandmother experienced phantom pain after her legs were amputated, leading the young Arantes to cut the legs off her dolls in an effort to help extinguish the suffering. This desire to provide comfort, she writes, led to her career in palliative care. In short, meditative chapters, Arantes delves into the nuances of her field of medicine; advanced directives; and the difference between end of life comfort care and euthanasia. She outlines a model of kalothanasia--"beautiful death"--that treats the end of life lived with "dignity, meaning, and value." A chapter on mourning offers a poignant take on a hard to explain process ("Tears are made of salt water," she writes. "Crying from that bittersweet emotion is like bathing in the sea from the inside out"). Arantes equips readers with confidence to better understand death while remaining frank about its challenges, from addressing regrets to handling issues of faith. This authoritative offering will benefit terminal patients, their families, and those in end of life care. (Mar.)
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Brazilian doctor Arantes delivers profound lessons about death in her powerful English-language debut. Drawing on her experience as a palliative care physician, Arantes contends that while many "shrink from the reality of death," it's actually "a bridge to life" to be understood without fear. The author recalls how, when she was young, a beloved grandmother experienced phantom pain after her legs were amputated, leading the young Arantes to cut the legs off her dolls in an effort to help extinguish the suffering. This desire to provide comfort, she writes, led to her career in palliative care. In short, meditative chapters, Arantes delves into the nuances of her field of medicine; advanced directives; and the difference between end of life comfort care and euthanasia. She outlines a model of kalothanasia—"beautiful death"—that treats the end of life lived with "dignity, meaning, and value." A chapter on mourning offers a poignant take on a hard to explain process ("Tears are made of salt water," she writes. "Crying from that bittersweet emotion is like bathing in the sea from the inside out"). Arantes equips readers with confidence to better understand death while remaining frank about its challenges, from addressing regrets to handling issues of faith. This authoritative offering will benefit terminal patients, their families, and those in end of life care. (Mar.)
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