Saying Goodbye to Daniel

Download or read book Saying Goodbye to Daniel written by Juliet Cassuto Rothman and published by Continuum. This book was released on 2002-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Daniel is twenty-one years old. He is entering his senior year in college as a pre-med student when he has a tragic diving accident, rendering him a quadriplegic. Though critical care can keep him alive, doctors are unable to stop the continuing deterioration of his condition. He is ventilator dependent, has frequent cardiac arrests, blood clots, fevers, and severe medical problems. Slowly, day by day, Daniel loses more and more ground. He eventually learns that he will never be able to eat or drink, never be able to speak, never be off the ventilator. With the help and support of his family, Daniel decides to remove the ventilator, thus quickly and effectively ending his life. Saying Goodbye to Daniel is the heartrending account of the final two and a half months in the life of Daniel Rothman, told with beautiful simplicity by his mother. As a social worker and philosopher specializing in terminal care issues, Juliet Rothman had for many years been preparing herself unwittingly for the hardest choice a parent can ever offer a child.Saying Goodbye to Daniel is many things. It is a harrowing story of how one family faced the ongoing tragedy of months of hospitalization and acute medical care. It is the moving case study of a young man's death with dignity. It is also a compassionate guidebook that includes an update on how the family coped with the loss of their son and brother, emotionally and spiritually, two years after his death; Juliet's reflections on terminating-care decisions based on her professional and practical experience; and a list of resources dealing with spinal cord injury, loss of a child, grief and bereavement, and advance directives and patient's rights.