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Traveling Through Grief, Traveling Through Life

Written by Dianne Gray

Each birthday, my mom asks me what I would like as a gift that year. We started this ritual somewhere  near my sixth birthday and it continues even now, some 45 years later. 

She asks. I answer. The ritual never really changes and neither does my answer.

"A trip, an experience, some new adventure," I always respond. She usually shakes her head in bewilderment thinking "how can this be my daughter" as my mom loves gifts that come in boxes.  

Evolving Philosophies on Pediatric Hospice and Pain Management

Written by Dianne Gray for Mediaplanet, featured in USA Today

There’s a “how-to” guide for about everything these days, but for families and caregivers of our country’s estimated one million seriously ill children, there is no guidebook that addresses the complexities and emotional challenges of decision making for children suffering in pain as a result of a serious or life-threatening illness.

Talking About Talking About Death: A Movement Unto Itself

Written by Dianne Gray for Mediaplanet, featured in USA Today

In the 1969 publication, “On Death and Dying”, Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross advocated for the rights of the patient, declaring that each person had the right to receive compassionate care based upon one’s own wishes for his or her individual end of life journey. At the time, many patients didn’t know their prognosis, much less have a say in their individual care plans. 

The Continuing Bond of Cooking With Austin

Written by Dianne Gray for the Association of Death Education Counselors (ADEC) Forum

Although I was well aware of the importance of healthy eating during pregnancy, I was not aware of how the simple act of being so fastidious in my choices would create the beginnings of a bond between my son and my- self. At the age of 28, I gave birth to a baby boy, Austin. Like most mothers I was consumed with all of the rituals and mundane issues having to do with feeding my firstborn child. How much? How often? Is he getting enough? The amount of thought I put into the matter is mind boggling. Many people engage in this endless dialogue that goes along with the care of their loved ones...young and old alike.

Pediatric Palliative Care Resources Guide

Written by Dianne Gray for the Louisiana-Mississippi Hospice and Palliative Care Organization Journal

As you may have read in my article in this edition of the LMHPCO Journal, I am an advocate for pediatric palliative care. Why? Because my son and our family were the recipients of quality pediatric palliative care? Because pediatric palliative care made everything in our world "perfect"? While we did receive quality pediatric palliative care that is not why I advocate for it. And no, it did not change the outcome of Austin's disease process. He still died despite all of our best efforts and care.

My Journey: Pediatric Hospice Care

Written by Dianne Gray for the Louisiana-Mississippi Hospice and Palliative Care Organization Journal

Last week, I read again Viktor Frankl's epic book Man's Search for Meaning and was reminded of a beautiful quote that holds significant meaning in my life.

The first is, "everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

The patient, the pediatrician and a national partner organization - an alliance

Writteny By Dianne Gray for the American Academy of Pediatrics, Section of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Journal

To download the article published in the Section on Hospice and Palliative Medicine Newsletter 3nd Quarter 2011, click here. [PDF: 119KB]

Parent Corner article

Writteny By Dianne Gray for the American Academy of Pediatrics, Section of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Journal

To download the article published in the Section on Hospice and Palliative Medicine Newsletter 2nd Quarter 2011, click here. [PDF: 201KB]

Death by Chocolate

Written by Dianne Gray for the Association of Death Education Counselors (ADEC) Forum

Although I was well aware of the importance of healthy eating during pregnancy, I was not aware of how the simple act of being so fastidious in my choices would create the beginnings of a bond between my son and myself.

Ebb and Flow

Written by Dianne Gray for the Children's Hospice and Palliative Care Coalition, Annual Journal

As I walked on an early summer day in South Florida, I listened to Duncan Sheik's "She Runs Away." I caught a phrase about “symptoms” and then "the darkness comes and the darkness goes," followed by "happiness ain't never how you think it should be so."

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