Being Mortal

Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande

Did you know that 75 percent of us will not be able to make decision for ourselves when we reach the end of our lives?

This is such an important book! Physician Atul Gawande tackles the difficult questions of approaching death and how to maintain a life worth living at the end.

Combining medical information, anecdotes, and personal stories of his patients and his own family, Gawande prompts the reader to think about what is important in the end. It's the softer side--nursing home residents caring for animals and small children, or people on hospice clearly expressing to their family members what their quality of life means--that resonated the most with me.

The other day a new study came out, concluding that chemotherapy at end-stage cancer does not extend patients' lives and certainly not their quality of life. That's what this book is about.

This book made me want to have these discussions with my own parents, siblings, spouse, and children. I want to live my life fully all the way to the end.