What Now? On the threshold of life, death, and grief.

In this episode, we speak with two experts in dementia healthcare. Dr. Sarah Brisbin and Jill MacPhee help us understand the complexity of dementia both for individuals diagnosed and living with dementia and their families and care partners. Our guests bring their expansive medical knowledge in this area, but it's their humanity and genuine caring for their patients and families that shine through in this conversation. Dementia is a disease that will affect most of us in some way in our lives, so this conversation is for all of us.  

We have the honour of speaking with meditation teacher Vinny Ferraro who leads Spirit Rock's program: A Year to Live, which focuses on waking up and living life more fully through the exploration of death as spiritual practice. In this conversation, Vinny shares his personal perspectives, interwoven with Buddhist teachings on how turning toward the present moment and the natural inevitability of death, teaches us about life and provides us a guide for living.  He also walks us through "The 5 Remembrances" a core Buddhist teaching about the essential truths of life.  This is a conversation that will have listeners thinking and reflecting deeply.

In this episode we address the task of what to do with the belongings and “stuff” we accumulate throughout a lifetime. Often as a person approaches death, or a person has died, family and close friends need to make decisions about how to disseminate a lifetime's worth of stuff. This can be an overwhelming undertaking during an already emotionally exhausting time. To support those engaged in this difficult task the co-hosts provide strategies and ways to think about our attachment to things, precious and otherwise, that gets left behind when someone dies.

In this fascinating conversation with author, psychologist and neuroscience researcher, Mary-Frances O’Connor,  we learn what happens in the brain when we experience loss and grief.  She expands the understanding of grief by sharing her discoveries of how our brain participates and responds to our loss. Dr. O’Connor explains, both here and in her book, information that is “power enabling,” because her research shows why we must be patient with ourselves (and our brains) during the grieving process. This is a fascinating conversation that will normalize and validate the common human experience of grief. 

In this episode we delve into the world of “positivity” as it relates to the experience of living with a life-threatening illness or the experience of being bereaved. Often, well meaning friends and family espouse the power of positive thinking. Thinking positive can be supportive and helpful, however if it becomes the only emotional expression accepted or tolerated by others it can put undue pressure on the person who is trying to cope during a time of enormous change and challenging emotional upheaval. The demand for this type of thinking does not make space for the full emotional range of the human experience and is sometimes referred to as toxic positivity. This is a discussion that is relevant to anyone going through a time of struggle or for those supporting others through hardship. 

In this episode we speak with award winning writer Patricia Pearson, author of: Opening Heaven's Door; What the dying may be trying to tell us about where they're going. During this fascinating conversation, Patricia shares findings from her extensive research about the "hinterland between dying and death." It's a fascinating discussion for anyone who has been curious about this liminal space and time. 

For many, it's not the most wonderful time of the year. Those living with life threatening illness (and their families) might be entering this season with awareness this could be the last. For others, if grief is "raw" and new we may be wondering how to survive the holidays.  If our grief is historical, then we may find the holidays trigger our grief.  It's a challenging time of year!In this episode the hosts give space to all of these realities, recognizing there isn't a solution to any of this but there are ways to approach the holidays that are compassionate and caring of ourselves and our loved ones. The theme of the episode is giving ourselves permission to let the holidays be what they need to be; reducing the pressure and letting go of the expectations for making it special and perfect.

The role of caregiving can be physically and emotionally exhausting. It can also be one of the most important and fulfilling things we can do for another person and for ourselves. In this episode we explore some of the unique issues and experiences of being a caregiver for someone living with a life threatening illness.

In this episode we speak with Dr. Daniel (Dan) Rosenbaum about the exciting new role that psychedelic assisted psychotherapy is playing in helping those living with a life threatening illness. Dan covers the past, present and future of this exciting and revitalized world of research and it’s potential real world applications.

For years our culture has not talked openly about death by suicide and this only amplifies the grief, trauma and isolation of the grief journey. It's an unbearable grief, often made even harder because it's not talked about. In this episode, we host Maureen Pollard, MSW, a social worker who specializes in traumatic grief. With her 30 years of expertise and experience Maureen compassionately guides us through the unique aspects of supporting a loved one grieving a death by suicide. 

In this episode we have the privilege of learning and speaking from Dr MaryCatherine (MC) McDonald, author of Unbroken: The Trauma Response Is Never Wrong—And Other Things You Need to Know to Take Back Your Life.  MC helps us understand the nature of trauma, how it lives in us and how it shows up in our nervous system and our lives. She makes the connection between how some of our grief experiences are both a grief AND trauma experience. We aren't broken because we experience trauma, it's our nervous system's way of protecting us through an unbearable experience. Many of us experience trauma and don't know it. Listen to this episode to help you hold yourself and others with more compassion and understanding.  

In the opening episode of our second season we have the honour of speaking with Dr. Chris Blake the new Medical Director of Hospice Peterborough. Chris shares what brought him to a career in palliative medicine and his philosophy of care. What shines through in our discussion is the deeply human approach he brings to his practice. 

The hosts look back at the inaugural season of What Now? and chat about the breadth and incredible guests that joined them.Stay tuned for season 2 coming this Fall!

In this episode our very own Julie Brown courageously shares with us her experience of living with a cancer diagnosis.  Julie walks us through the processes of discovery, diagnosis and emergency surgery to chemotherapy and beyond.She boldly  shares her experiences of fear and terror, exhaustion and determination and the caring love of her family and friends.For Julie hers was a transformative journey, equally  personal, physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual. 

In this episode, we have the honour of speaking with Bill Lockington, founding Partner of LLF Lawyers about Powers of Attorneys and Wills.  Bill offers a straightforward approach and brings clarity to these sometimes confusing and difficult processes that we often refer to as the business side of death and dying.

In this episode we have the honour of speaking with Dr. Naheed Dosani. Dr Dosani is a palliative physician in Toronto and founder of Palliative Education and Care for the Homeless (PEACH).  The PEACH program, based out of the Inner City Health Associates (ICHA) in Toronto, provides community-based hospice palliative care to individuals regardless of their housing status or factors such as mental health, poverty or substance use. Through their work and advocacy the team at PEACH have challenged the status quo and brought equity to the health care system by providing palliative and hospice care directly to those living on the street. Dr. Dosani’s inspirational words and actions challenge and encourage us to see the humanity in our society's most vulnerable and often times forgotten members. 

In part 2 of  Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID),  the hosts share their experiences and learnings from working with individuals and their families, who have chosen to die by MAID.  They explore how a MAID death and subsequent grief can result in some unique issues in the dying and grief journey.

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) is a relatively new and evolving way to die in Canada.  In this episode our guest, Dr Kaetlen Wilson, shares with us the steps involved in accessing MAID.  With genuine care and respect, Kaetlen walks us through the process from making the request, the eligibility assessment, and finally, the provision of MAID.*DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for educational purposes and should not be considered an endorsement or promotion of Medical Assistance in Dying. Hospice Peterborough delivers high-quality end-of-life care with a client-centered focus on comfort and dignity. For more information on MAID at Hospice Peterborough, please visit hospicepeterborough.org/news-stories. 

In this episode, we explore the unique grief dynamics that are present when death is unexpected.

In this episode we explore the all too common experience of feeling that our needs are becoming a burden to others.  We discuss how the dynamic of burden forces us to confront our vulnerabilities and at the same time presents us with the opportunity to deepen our relationships with those who are our closest supporters.