Hospice helps local familhy in mother's final days: David and Stephanie Gaston were lucky. Her doctor suggested hospice care when he determined that she had just a few months to live.
Living will, durable power of attorney are useful tools as life comes to an end: Misconceptions and lack of information are the two biggest obstacles standing in the way of widespread use of advance directives, experts in the field say.
A good death remains elusive: Defying the odds by living for more than five years with heart failure and colon cancer, Virginia Ivy now is ready to die.
Geography plays a part in quality of a person's death: Where you live affects how well you die.
Diamond Anderson is preparing to meet his maker: There are days when Diamond Anderson wishes he could just go to sleep and never wake up.
Poll finds few Americans have planned for their final year: Most Americans fear they will suffer a lingering, irreversible illness and won't be able to control their own medical treatment.
Medicare's fastest-growing benefit is end-of-life care: Hospice care is evolving into a Medicare behemoth with close to $2 billion spent annually to provide end-of-life care once considered part of medical counterculture.
Hospice officials wish more people knew about services: More people would take advantage of the services offered by hospice care if they knew about it, providers believe.
Talking about death can make issues easier: Vilma Medrano has been speechless for 18 months.
Ministers consider end-of-life decisions: One of the most powerful moments Father Fred Nawarskas experiences as a priest comes when he has no power left.
Death debate includes physician-assisted suicide: Dale Gilsdorf says he will kill himself at the point when his lung and brain cancer make life intolerable.
Medical schools deal with death and dying: Virtually all medical schools in the United States now include death and dying issues in their curriculum, the dean of medical education at Duke University said.
ACU professor wants to educate people in planning for last days: A common question friends ask students in Dr. Dickie Hill's seminars is, "What in the world would you be taking that class for?"
