Book Synopsis:

The guide to achieving the positive end-of-life experience you want and deserve, this second edition of Finish Strong by Barbara Coombs Lee the President Emerita/Senior Adviser of Compassion & Choices, features valuable new material, including a new chapter called “Race and Culture Matter;” an Afterword by Kim Callinan, the President/CEO of Compassion & Choices; and a detailed index for the book.

It’s hard to talk about death in America. But even though the topic has been taboo, life’s end is an eventual reality. So why not shape it to our values? Finish Strong is for those of us who want an end-of-life experience to match the life we’ve enjoyed. We know we should prepare, but are unsure how to think and talk about it, how to live true to our values and priorities, and how to make our wishes stick.

The usual advice about advance directives and conversations is important but woefully inadequate. This book describes concrete action in the here and now to help live our best lives to the end. Finish Strong will guide you through:

• Finding a partner-doctor to honor your values and beliefs with humanity, deference and candor.
• Identifying what matters most as vigor wanes and stating your priorities.
• Having meaningful conversations with doctors and family about expectations and wishes.
• Staying off the “overtreatment conveyor belt.”
• Knowing when “slow medicine” is the best option to maintain quality of life.
• Navigating hospice, the ultimate healing experience.

Written with candor and clarity by a nurse, physician assistant and attorney who became a leading advocate for end-of-life options, this book can help you Finish Strong.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword by Haider Warraich, M.D.

Preface by Barbara Coombs Lee

A Note About the Second Edition An Invitation

Talking About Death Won’t Kill You (But It Could Improve Your Life)

Overtreatment and Diminishing Returns

Let Me Die Like a Doctor

Hope & Heroism

Hospice: The Healing Option

The Secret of Slow Medicine

Escaping Dementia

Inside a Growing Advocacy

Race and Culture Matter

People Taking Control

Space for the Sacred

It’s Harder Than You Think (But You Can Do It)

Afterword by Kim Callinan, president and chief executive officer, Compassion & Choices

Appendix: Tools to Take Charge

Acknowledgments

About the Author

About Compassion & Choices

Notes on Sources

Index