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Avery Publishing Group

Description

For readers of Being Mortal and Modern Death, an ICU and Palliative Care specialist offers a framework for a better way to exit life that will change our medical culture at the deepest level


In medical school, no one teaches you how to let a patient die.

Jessica Zitter became a doctor because she wanted to be a hero. She elected to specialize in critical careto become an ICU physicianand imagined herself swooping in to rescue patients from the brink of death. Butthen duringher first codeshe found herself cracking the ribs of a patient so old and frail it was unimaginable he would ever come back to life. She began to question her choice.

Extreme MeasureschartsZittersjourney from wanting to be one kind of hero to becoming anothera doctor who prioritizes the patients values and preferences in an environment where the defaultchoice is the extremeuse of technology. In our current medical culture, the old and the ill are put on what she termsthe End-of-LifeConveyor belt. They are intubated, catheterized, and even shelved away in care facilities tosuffertheir final days alone, confused, and often in pain. In her work Zitter has learned what patients fear more than death itself:the prospect of dying badly. She builds bridges between patients and caregivers, formulates plans to allay patients pain and anxiety, and enlists the support of loved ones so that life can end well, even beautifully.

Filled with rich patient stories that makeacompelling medical narrative,Extreme Measuresenlarges the national conversation as it thoughtfully and compassionately examines an experience that defines being human.