Dr. David Tribble

We at Alive Hospice had the privilege this week of being addressed by Don Schumacher, the President and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. After the update of all the things going on in Washington regarding proposed cuts, health-care reform, and hospice as the most prominent head in the budgetary Whack-A-Mole game, he asserted that those of us who do end-of-life care do so not only out of a sense of calling, a genuine desire to help people through a difficult time, but also to develop some control over our own deaths, some assurance that our passing can be comfortable and well-managed.

In the process of answering those who ask “How can you deal with death and dying all day?” I commonly answer that there is less doubt about the medical contribution I make in this work than in any other in my 30 years of medical practice. However, I also comment that I could not do this if I had not been able to accept, at a very visceral level, that I, too, will someday die. I suppose, then, that my helping to manage the rough parts of dying for others is, to some extent, rehearsal for my own eventual death. There is peace in this.

Please do not misunderstand: I am not depressed, let alone suicidal. However, I am not devastated by the eventuality of my death, either. I plan to remain a contributing human being for as long as I possibly can, but I do not expect that to be forever. This allows me the freedom to talk about how I will want that part of my life to be.

It must be difficult to do this work without having this sorted out for oneself first.

Dr. David Tribble is Alive Hospice’s chief medical officer.