Being Mortal (Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End) - Atul Gawande
This isn't the sort of book I'd normally pick up, in fact I didn't even buy it myself; my grandad bought it, then my dad read it, then I saw it and thought to see what it was about. I'm glad I did.
Despite the somewhat morbid subject matter, I found myself being absorbed. Being Mortal discusses the modern phenomenon of aging, specifically getting old. If life as a whole is a year, this book very much focuses on the month of December.
Written by a surgeon, the author describes how modern medicine has effectively artificially extended our lives, sometimes beyond what is best for us. Where we once would have died to such things as heart attacks, infection or other disease (usually in our own homes), advances in medicine allow us to overcome such obstacles and live much longer lifespans.
It is here that medicine subsequently fails; we eventually become incapable of supporting ourselves, we slowly lose our independence. Various methods for dealing with this loss of independence are discussed; the nursing home, independent living, assisted living and living with relatives. The merits and detriments of each are explained. Attempts to imrpove quality of life in such places are also explained (even small amounts of responsibility vastly improve residents' experience).
As a doctor himself, the author explains how they are woefully incapable of explaining to patients their choices when it comes to dealing with terminal diseases, often resulting in a detached stream of information - 'Choice A will do this, Choice B will do this, what do you want to do?' The patient is left to make their decision based on this wall of information. A more preferable path involves discussing with the patient what they are happy to live with, what compromises are they willing to make.
Through a number of anecdotes (in particular the author's own father, dealing with metastatic spinal chord cancer) the book compares the attidutes of palliative care (hospice) and traditional medicine in reference to terminal illnesses: live life now, or attempt to get more life later.
The book successfully sensitively explains that most of us (understandibly) have great trouble accepting our own mortality, undertaking increasingly risky and damaging treatments, often with little or deleterious effects in the end. We exchange the present life in the hope of more in the future, when living it now might be the better course to take.
A sobering read, but worth every moment.
Being Mortal (Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End) - Atul Gawande on Amazon
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