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With the End in Mind

By: Kathryn Mannix
Narrated by: Elizabeth Carling, Kathryn Mannix
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Publisher's Summary

What colour is cancer? Why do some people appear to have made miraculous recoveries? How can you tell when someone is in the final hours of their life? How can we ensure our most vulnerable are treated with the dignity they deserve? 

In this unprecedented memoir, a palliative medicine pioneer explores the biggest taboo in our society and the only certainty we all share: death. Kathryn Mannix immortalises the thousands of men and women she has seen off. These unforgettable stories send an urgent message to the living, answering all our questions about the end-of-life process with touching honesty and humanity. 

Drawing on four decades of experience studying and practicing palliative care, Mannix shows us what happens when people are approaching the end of their lives: how they cope, how they live, what matters most, how dying evolves, what a deathbed is like and how families react. 

Kathryn Mannix's stories, although drawn from her clinical practice, are those of our friends, our family, our partners. We learn about the body language of death through a young mother who raves the night away before falling into a forever slumber. The psychology of death, too, is illuminated, as with the endearing story of Sanjeev, an elderly man admitted to the hospital who is convinced he is on a night train to Delhi where he will meet his parents in the morning. A husband asks the doctor not to tell his wife of the fatality of her condition - the wife later confesses to having kept her husband in the dark about the finality of her illness to preserve him. These meditations tells us everything about the dying and their loved ones. 

With the End in Mind is a book for all of us: the grieving and bereaved, ill and healthy. It is also an insight into palliation as a mixture of teamwork with clinical detective work to find the origins of patients' symptoms in order offer the best possible living conditions towards the end. Mannix argues that with planning, honesty and information, death doesn't have to be either painful or terrifying. With at-times funny, poignant and always wise storytelling about how people die, Mannix has written a book of immense power and importance.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our Desktop Site.

©2017 Kathryn Mannix (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

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Incredibly helpful

My palliated sister asked our family to read this book, to help us understand her state of mind, priorities and road ahead.
Thanks to this book I will be able to enjoy our remaining time together a lot more, and I'll probably be less annoying to her, with incorrect assumptions and pointless fears.

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Wonderful stories

Both heartwarming and gut wrenching. Reader is very nice to listen to and has a clear voice. Short episodic-ish chapters make for easy listening that doesn’t always work as well with longer chapters / serial stories. Would definitely recommend.

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wish I'd read this earlier

I absolutely loved this book. it was wonderful. I wish I'd found it before 2 very special people died last year.
I highly recommend this book. it is beautiful. Filled with love.

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loved it

A remarkable insight into the life of dying. a must listen, I'm listening again already.

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useful teachings for living and dying

Dr Mannix shares openly on her experienes in palliative care. she is a natural story teller. highly recommend this book for anyone being with the dying, in all its messiness and grace.

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incredible.

completely shifted my perspective on death and dying. highly recommend for anyone suffering from existential dread

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Beautiful insights

Beautiful and practical book about living while dying , about relationships and expectations. I would recommend it to everyone
Thank you Katherine

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Excellent

What an excellent book. As a health professional this book gave me the confidence to talk and think about death, and as a person, it gave me the reminder I needed to cherish every moment.

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Highly recommended for ALL of us!

This book by eminent palliative care Dr Kathryn Mannix is both a profession text & one for all of us. Goodness me, I would be so delighted to have someone with Dr Mannix's experience, care & compassion caring for me as life was ebbing away. Now retired, let's hope more medical professionals learn from her! I will be looking out for her next book Listen! Thank you Dr Mannix

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Enlightening

Beautifully crafted book. I laughed and cried at some of these case presentations.
I very much enjoyed the truthfulness of what a hospice death can be.

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