Most Americans don’t talk about dying. When they do, most are misinformed about what happens to people at the end of life. That’s because most people get their information from television and the TV fantasy world has created a level of ignorance that is hard to exaggerate. The dollar and human costs of this gross misinformation are astronomical. Many terminal patients linger through their final months with a miserable quality of life and too often with extreme levels of suffering. Today’s high-tech medical care can sustain technical life―the beating heart―but utterly fails to restore real quality of life for many. The result: Death Prolonged.

Patients and loved ones need to know that they can choose treatment goals which allow a dignified natural death with minimal suffering, rather than a prolonged agonizing existence. Without intervention, millions of people face a lengthy, painful death over the next several years, and billions of precious health care dollars will be wasted. I’m committed to do what I can to prevent this.

This story is an attempt to tell the truth about end-of-life care in America. I chose fiction because people need more than facts: they need to feel these realities to get an accurate perspective.

This story is as close as I can come to taking you into the hospital so you can experience these disturbing truths with me.

Every fact and statistic quoted in the story is real. The Source Notes on page 167 list all references by page of appearance.

You can get the most up-to-date information on these matters at www.eoleducation.org.

Jeff Gordon, M.D.

Grant Medical Center

Columbus, Ohio