{"id":87,"date":"2012-01-02T21:27:02","date_gmt":"2012-01-02T21:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eldercaresolutionschicago.wordpress.com\/?p=87"},"modified":"2022-04-07T14:09:20","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T19:09:20","slug":"when-enough-is-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"When Enough is Enough"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cSometimes the gentlest of breezes can topple us off the precipice.\u201d While we all know that death is inevitable, it is difficult to accept it as such. Often we search for answers through medical procedures and technologies when the true answer comes from nature, the \u201cgentle breeze theory\u201d. The world of technology and a \u201cfix it\u201d mentality is certainly a blessing, but it can also prove to be a curse. Instead of helping families experience death as a gentle breeze, it creates a stormy and troubled time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do individuals and families discern when enough \u2014 testing to find the answers to the \u201cwhy\u201d of decline or illness or the \u201cwhat\u201d might be done \u2014 is enough? How do we recognize when less is more? How can we come to embrace death as a reasonable and even good option, rather than a defeat or a sign that we didn\u2019t do enough? It takes thoughtfulness and a measure of courage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clearly, such decisions are among the most difficult. Personal values, the meaning of life, and view of death are critical to decision making, and as important to consider as is medical information. There is no right or wrong, and each individual family must come to peace with it\u2019s own decisions. Some considerations, however, can help a family be more clear and comfortable with their decisions. As tests or procedures are proposed, it\u2019s important to ask:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>\u201cWhat information will be gained?\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cHow will that information guide care decisions \u2014 will it make a difference?\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cHow much discomfort will be involved?\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cWhat are the risks of not doing tests?\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cWhat are the alternatives to tests and\/or procedures?\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Most importantly, information needs to be evaluated in the context of an individual\u2019s life context. An individual who was very active and engaged in life may have the reasons and reserves to withstand difficult treatment and will have a very different recovery than one who was bedridden and whose pre-illness physical and mental resources were near depletion. Ultimately, it\u2019s important to consider: \u201cWill the medical interventions merely forestall death or will they likely provide for a comfortable and meaningful life?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Very often health care providers are foremost in helping the family with their decisions. It is important that those providers know the person, their history and values, their pre illness life circumstances. While specialists brought in for consultation can give information about tests and procedures, they are often less able to fit the information into an individual\u2019s life context \u2014 that is for the regular care provider AND the family to do. Valued friends and ministers or rabbis can be an important sounding boards and sources of guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Choosing to forego tests and treatment is not the same as doing \u201cnothing.\u201d Choosing to accept death and support the dying process is a real and valuable intervention. But doing so can seem foreign and out of sync with a culture that strives to keep aging and death at bay. The opportunity to accompany someone in the dying process can be life giving and comforting. It is an opportunity lost if it is not actively considered as an alternative to treatment. Choosing death can be part of choosing and gracefully accepting all of life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The opportunity to accompany someone in the dying process can be life giving and comforting. It is an opportunity lost if it is not actively considered as an alternative to treatment. Choosing death can be part of choosing and gracefully accepting all of life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,23,24,16],"tags":[18,109,28,107,51,108],"class_list":{"0":"post-87","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-advocacy","7":"category-eldercare","8":"category-end-of-life","9":"category-care-manager","10":"tag-caremanager","11":"tag-gentle-breeze-theory","12":"tag-health-care-advocate","13":"tag-medical-interventions","14":"tag-slow-medicine","15":"tag-support-the-dying-process","16":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>When Enough is Enough - ElderCare Solutions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Often we search for answers in medical procedures and technology when the true answer comes from nature, the \u201cgentle breeze theory\u201d.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Enough is Enough - ElderCare Solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Often we search for answers in medical procedures and technology when the true answer comes from nature, the \u201cgentle breeze theory\u201d.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ElderCare Solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-02T21:27:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-07T19:09:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"eldercaresolutionschicago\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"eldercaresolutionschicago\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"eldercaresolutionschicago\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a8733ea2eb95bcd96f8bf5cb0113666b\"},\"headline\":\"When Enough is Enough\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-01-02T21:27:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-07T19:09:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/\"},\"wordCount\":543,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"caremanager\",\"gentle breeze theory\",\"health care advocate\",\"medical interventions\",\"slow medicine\",\"support the dying process\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Advocacy for Eldercare\",\"Eldercare\",\"End of Life\",\"Geriatric Care Manager\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/\",\"name\":\"When Enough is Enough - ElderCare Solutions\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-01-02T21:27:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-07T19:09:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a8733ea2eb95bcd96f8bf5cb0113666b\"},\"description\":\"Often we search for answers in medical procedures and technology when the true answer comes from nature, the \u201cgentle breeze theory\u201d.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"ElderCare Solutions\",\"description\":\"Penny\u2019s Two Cents\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a8733ea2eb95bcd96f8bf5cb0113666b\",\"name\":\"eldercaresolutionschicago\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"eldercaresolutionschicago\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/author\/eldercaresolutionschicago\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When Enough is Enough - ElderCare Solutions","description":"Often we search for answers in medical procedures and technology when the true answer comes from nature, the \u201cgentle breeze theory\u201d.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When Enough is Enough - ElderCare Solutions","og_description":"Often we search for answers in medical procedures and technology when the true answer comes from nature, the \u201cgentle breeze theory\u201d.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/","og_site_name":"ElderCare Solutions","article_published_time":"2012-01-02T21:27:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-07T19:09:20+00:00","author":"eldercaresolutionschicago","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"eldercaresolutionschicago","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/"},"author":{"name":"eldercaresolutionschicago","@id":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a8733ea2eb95bcd96f8bf5cb0113666b"},"headline":"When Enough is Enough","datePublished":"2012-01-02T21:27:02+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-07T19:09:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/"},"wordCount":543,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["caremanager","gentle breeze theory","health care advocate","medical interventions","slow medicine","support the dying process"],"articleSection":["Advocacy for Eldercare","Eldercare","End of Life","Geriatric Care Manager"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/","url":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/","name":"When Enough is Enough - ElderCare Solutions","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-01-02T21:27:02+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-07T19:09:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a8733ea2eb95bcd96f8bf5cb0113666b"},"description":"Often we search for answers in medical procedures and technology when the true answer comes from nature, the \u201cgentle breeze theory\u201d.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/2012\/when-enough-is-enough\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/","name":"ElderCare Solutions","description":"Penny\u2019s Two Cents","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a8733ea2eb95bcd96f8bf5cb0113666b","name":"eldercaresolutionschicago","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"eldercaresolutionschicago"},"url":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/author\/eldercaresolutionschicago\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":262,"href":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions\/262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eldercaresolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}