When I interview an expert for an article, I typically jump right into my questions. But meeting with Amos Bailey, MD, FACP, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the director of the Master of Science in Palliative Care and Interprofessional Palliative Care Certificate Programs, was different. Before I could ask my first question, he asked his.
“Have you had any personal experiences with hospice or palliative care?” he asked.
I was instantly returned to 2018, when my grandmother suffered a stroke. She couldn’t speak or get out of bed. Her last days were spent in hospice. She didn’t recognize some of my family members, but she still squeezed my hand. She played with my hair when I laid my head on her chest, just like when I was a child, which meant the world to me.
Bailey asked if my grandmother’s end-of-life care was a positive or negative experience. It turned out to be both. No one wants to see their loved ones fading, but at least she didn’t seem to suffer.
He told me that nearly everyone has had an experience with death. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes bad, but often it’s both. And we’ll all go through it sooner or later.
“About 2.8 million people in the U.S. die every year,” Bailey said. “These last two years have actually been higher, and a lot of that is due to COVID.”
Then it was my turn.