Why even a physician found it hard to talk to his dad about death
End-of-life conversations are difficult but essential. Knowing your loved one’s values and preferences provides clarity about care when catastrophic illness strikes.
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The paradox of end-of-life conversations is that they are always too early until they are too late, says the writer.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Raymond Ng
My father lived to be 85 before he passed away, a ripe old age by most standards. Singaporeans today enjoy some of the highest life expectancies in the world, but behind this achievement lies a sobering reality.
Many of us will spend our final decade living with increasing frailty and declining health. Before he died, my father endured more than 25 years of illness and its complications, including Wegener’s granulomatosis (a rare autoimmune disease), as well as prostate and bladder cancer.