Speaking on death and dying
Life and death was the topic on Thursday October 20 as the Letters & Arts Society presented its first guest author of the year, Dr. David Kuhl, a palliative care physician-turned-author from Vancouver, BC.
Dr. Kuhl started by speaking humbly and briefly about the act of writing and how it shocked him, most of anyone, that his years of education and practice in medicine would lead him to writing and publishing outside of medical journals. The reluctant author then went on to divulge the inspiration and purpose behind his book, What Dying People Want: Practical Wisdom for the End of Life, a guide for those dying of terminal illnesses and people who care for them. Much like any other book talk, Dr. Kuhl then outlined the main points of his book, threw in a few personal anecdotes, and then opened the floor to audience questions. It wasn't a particularly historical event; by no means a dull performance — quite the contrary is true in fact. But it certainly was not the pinnacle of auditory presentations.
However, the impact of his talk would go much further for some than perhaps intended. Many audience members left feeling melancholy, pensive and depressed as if they were on the verge of a life changing epiphany. These reactions were not from terminally ill people facing imminent death, doctors, students of medicine or anyone for whom the book was specifically intended. Why then, were they so greatly impacted by Dr.Kuhl's talk? Why were they scrambling to obtain a copy of his book?
Perhaps it could be explained by the forty-five minutes spent facing tales of mortality and the inefficient methods of medical professionals when dealing with the terminally ill. But more likely, it was much deeper than that.
In his short story, “A Country Doctor,” Franz Kafka pens, “[W]riting prescriptions is easy, but, otherwise, communicating with people is hard.” This passage relates perfectly to the themes addressed in Dr. Kuhl's book about the break down of communication not only between doctor and patient, but between all people. It is likely this sentiment, as opposed to the issue of one's own mortality, which caused the profound emotion expressed by those who attended the presentation. During his talk, Dr.Kuhl outlined the nine principles addressed in What Dying People Want, namely overcoming fear, acceptance of fact, pain, intimacy, life review, truth and honesty, belonging, self discovery and transcendence. Through these principles, as well as the recounting of several terminal ill patients' stories, Dr. Kuhl outlines the need for communication and compassion not only in the face of death but throughout all of life, making his work not just “Practical Wisdom for the End of Life,” but rather practical wisdom for the living. How sad that the people whose stories are told in this book had to wait until they were on their death bed to discover themselves and release those things which made it impossible to communicate their emotional pain and suffering. Compassion and communication should not only be for health care professionals dealing with terminally ill patients, but rather a general practice for all people. The regret and loneliness faced by Dr.Kuhl's subjects was not caused by cancer, or AIDS, but by the unfortunate, uncommunicative nature of people which did not start at the time of illness, but is rather a condition inflicted upon everyone by the people around them.
No one should wait until they, or a loved one is dying to read Dr.Kuhl's book as everyone should understand the importance of individual life, concern, companionship and spirituality when there is more than six months left to reap the benefits of this wisdom.
Dr. Kuhl started by speaking humbly and briefly about the act of writing and how it shocked him, most of anyone, that his years of education and practice in medicine would lead him to writing and publishing outside of medical journals. The reluctant author then went on to divulge the inspiration and purpose behind his book, What Dying People Want: Practical Wisdom for the End of Life, a guide for those dying of terminal illnesses and people who care for them. Much like any other book talk, Dr. Kuhl then outlined the main points of his book, threw in a few personal anecdotes, and then opened the floor to audience questions. It wasn't a particularly historical event; by no means a dull performance — quite the contrary is true in fact. But it certainly was not the pinnacle of auditory presentations.
However, the impact of his talk would go much further for some than perhaps intended. Many audience members left feeling melancholy, pensive and depressed as if they were on the verge of a life changing epiphany. These reactions were not from terminally ill people facing imminent death, doctors, students of medicine or anyone for whom the book was specifically intended. Why then, were they so greatly impacted by Dr.Kuhl's talk? Why were they scrambling to obtain a copy of his book?
Perhaps it could be explained by the forty-five minutes spent facing tales of mortality and the inefficient methods of medical professionals when dealing with the terminally ill. But more likely, it was much deeper than that.
In his short story, “A Country Doctor,” Franz Kafka pens, “[W]riting prescriptions is easy, but, otherwise, communicating with people is hard.” This passage relates perfectly to the themes addressed in Dr. Kuhl's book about the break down of communication not only between doctor and patient, but between all people. It is likely this sentiment, as opposed to the issue of one's own mortality, which caused the profound emotion expressed by those who attended the presentation. During his talk, Dr.Kuhl outlined the nine principles addressed in What Dying People Want, namely overcoming fear, acceptance of fact, pain, intimacy, life review, truth and honesty, belonging, self discovery and transcendence. Through these principles, as well as the recounting of several terminal ill patients' stories, Dr. Kuhl outlines the need for communication and compassion not only in the face of death but throughout all of life, making his work not just “Practical Wisdom for the End of Life,” but rather practical wisdom for the living. How sad that the people whose stories are told in this book had to wait until they were on their death bed to discover themselves and release those things which made it impossible to communicate their emotional pain and suffering. Compassion and communication should not only be for health care professionals dealing with terminally ill patients, but rather a general practice for all people. The regret and loneliness faced by Dr.Kuhl's subjects was not caused by cancer, or AIDS, but by the unfortunate, uncommunicative nature of people which did not start at the time of illness, but is rather a condition inflicted upon everyone by the people around them.
No one should wait until they, or a loved one is dying to read Dr.Kuhl's book as everyone should understand the importance of individual life, concern, companionship and spirituality when there is more than six months left to reap the benefits of this wisdom.
