Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life

In medical school, no one teaches how to let a patient die. Jessica Zitter became a doctor because she wanted to be a hero. She decided to specialise in critical care - to become an ICU doctor - and imagined herself stepping in to save patients from death. But then, during her first intervention, she caught herself breaking the ribs of a patient so old and frail that it was inconceivable he would ever come back to life. She began to question her choice. This book depicts Zitter's journey from wanting to be one kind of hero to being another - a doctor who puts the patient's values and preferences first in an environment where the default choice is extreme use of technology. In our current medical culture, the old and sick are placed on what it calls a withdrawal conveyor belt. They are intubated, catheterised and even placed in care centres to spend their last days alone and often in pain. In her work, Zitter has learned what patients fear more than death itself: the prospect of dying badly. She builds a bridge between patients and carers, formulates plans to relieve patients' pain and anxiety, and enlists the support of loved ones so that life can end well and even beautifully.