Dying to Tell You

Sometimes fixing the problem right in front of us creates harm down the road, especially in healthcare and with patients who are facing the end of life. Physician's Assistant Ryan English joins Cody this week on Dying To Tell You: The Caring Perspective to share the story of a patient that inspired him to get into palliative care, a patient whose situation presented the challenging decision to for...

Healthcare educator, social media influencer, and good friend of the podcast Hospice Nurse Julie shares the formative story of a patient who changed her perspective forever. Working in the ICU as a young nurse, Julie started to see a pattern that disturbed her, an unwillingness at times to help patients and their families face what seemed inevitable to everyone on the healthcare staff but was neve...

It can be a difficult idea to engage with, but children face terminal illnesses and life-limiting circumstances too. And it takes vastly empathetic healthcare professionals like Dr. Jared Rubenstein to help them navigate their experience with grace, intention, and peace. Dr. Rubenstein shares his perspective with Cody for this week's episode and talks about how his team came to institute Dignity T...

Wellness Nurse, Life and Death Educator, International Speaker, and Author of the new book "The Good Death," Suzanne B. O'Brien, RN, has helped train over 360,000 people globally in how to care for loved ones at the end of life and how we can all prepare ourselves for a "good death." In this episode of Dying To Tell You: The Caring Perspective, Suzanne joins Cody to share what she's experienced by...

In this episode of Dying to Tell You: The Caring Perspective, (E07) Cody interviews his long-time friend Garrett Price about his journey from chaplaincy to becoming a licensed professional counselor specializing in trauma, grief, and loss. Garrett shares a touching story about his time as a hospice chaplain, including his experience with a terminal patient we’ll call Doug. It reveals the powerful...

Dying To Tell You: The Caring Perspective E06: Clinical Chaplain Aaron Aaron Metcalf is a board-certified Clinical Chaplain at a Level 1 Trauma Center nestled in Portland, Oregon. Aaron has lived in Oregon most of his life and enjoys the northwest outdoorsy life along with the intense and meaningful work of chaplaincy. He especially loves working with amazing nurses and doctors as they engage in t...

Dying to Tell You: The Caring Perspective—E05 with Dr. John Mulder Dr. Mulder shares his incredible story of a patient who was at the end of her life but, beyond medical explanation, not yet ready to go. And how he stumbled quite by accident on what seemed like the answer. Dr. John Mulder currently serves as the Executive Director for Trillium Institute, Chief Medical Consultant for Hospice and Pa...

This week, Cody sits down with @Hospicehalley , a Hospice Social Worker and co-host of the Death Happens, An Insider’s Guide to Dying podcast with @hospicenursepenny . She previously hosted the Someday We’ll All Be Dead podcast from 2018–2024. Halley tells the story of the very first time a patient of hers took Medical Aid In Dying (M.A.I.D.) and how despite her strongly held beliefs on personal a...

Dr. Matthew Tyler on the "hidden curriculum" of healthcare professionals—lessons they learn about some of the most difficult parts of their jobs, lessons they learn not in a classroom but by simply living through them. Matt is board certified in internal medicine and hospice & palliative medicine with more than a decade of experience helping people living with a serious illness create personal...

"She left this world feeling comfortable with who she was." Jeff Manuel is a palliative care physician in Denver, Colorado, and joins Cody to share his personal story about what he learned from one patient in particular—a young woman diagnosed with metastatic uterine cancer—at the end of her life. Jeff has been practicing as a palliative care physician and educator for 16 years. He has had roles a...

This week on our very first Dying To Tell You: The Caring Perspective, Hospice Nurse Penny shares her experience with a patient whose spirit had seemingly left them but whose body was still there "doing the work of dying." This moment changed forever how Penny approached her patients, her practice, and even her own belief in the afterlife. Penny is a nationally certified hospice and palliative car...

A brief (3 minutes!) update after our Season Two finale! It's Giving Tuesday and if you love the show, we have a humble request. If you believe in our mission to normalize death and dying and have the means, we'd like to ask for your support this Giving Tuesday. We are not a nonprofit, but even a small gift helps with production costs that include software licenses, stock music licensing, distribu...

For the finale of Season Two, we invited back a few previous guests for a very special Thanksgiving episode...with video!  Riyaz, Rachel, and Javeeda joined us live and on-camera to share how they're doing and what they're grateful for. Join us around the virtual Thanksgiving table for this lovely hour of reconnection, gratitude, and life. If you're listening to the audio podcast only, head over t...

Between each episode, Cody offers a brief reflection on the themes he discussed with his guest the week before. Today, Cody reflects on his conversation with Jackie & Shannon, and what can happen to our identity—our sense of self—when we begin to lose memories, shift roles, and face what sometimes seems like a stranger in the mirror. What makes a person who they are? What do we do when our rol...

Our final guests of Season 2 are Jackie & Shannon, a mother and daughter navigating the changes and challenges of Alzheimer's. Jackie has moved out of her home in California and now splits her time between the homes of her daughters in Colorado.  There is so much more to the story of Alzheimer's and dementia than just memory loss. The transformations of this disease impact almost every aspect...

"I'm no different than you." Between each episode, Cody offers a brief reflection on the themes he discussed with his guest the week before. Today, Cody reflects on his conversation with Javeeda and how a diagnosis can make you feel different. But people with diagnoses are still people, just like everyone else. We're all simply doing the best we can with what we have in front of us. Cody offers ad...

Javeeda lives in Toronto and has Adrenocortical carcinoma—a rare and aggressive cancer that starts in the kidney area. Her diagnosis has gone from 3-5 years to 1 year to "months not years." Today she is facing the reality of raising her daughter, planning ahead as much as she can while not knowing how long she has left. At the same time, she's balancing her cancer treatment—which can possibly exte...

Between each episode, Cody offers a brief reflection on the themes he discussed with his guest the week before. In this reflection, Cody reflects on last week's conversation with Deanna, how we all turn to faith in our own ways in times of challenge and fear. And how we can all try to find the peace inside to know we're ok. We also share a remembrance from Beth Stevens of her grandfather, which wi...

On the side of an ice-covered Wyoming highway, staring down an out-of-control semi, Deanna prayed and got a truly unexpected answer—she made it off that road alive but less than a year later was diagnosed with ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. What she sees now is that she was given time to say goodbye. >>Theme Music by Michael Shynes , "The Other Side"<< Music featured in t...

Between each episode, Cody offers a brief reflection on the themes he discussed with his guest the week before. In this reflection, Cody reflects on last week's conversation with Lee, who sees her tumor not as an enemy to fight, but as part of who she is. Tune in for his thoughts on acceptance, beautiful gifts in ugly wrapping, and the wisdom of Mike Tyson. And let us know what your thoughts are,...

Nearly fourteen years ago, Lee discovered she had an inoperable tumor at the top of her spinal cord, an astrocytoma that left her partially paralyzed. After initial medical options ultimately proved either too risky (radiation) or not an option at all (chemotherapy), Lee began down a more holistic path and hasn't undergone any additional conventional treatment for her cancer.  Instead, Lee has use...

Between each episode, Cody offers a brief reflection on the themes he discussed with his guest the week before. In this reflection, Cody reflects on last week's conversation with Rachel. ALS (aka Lou Gehrig's) is a disease of progressive, irretrievable loss. And unlike other diseases like dementia, you're only too aware of what you're losing.  But as Rachel has shown us and Cody reflects on—that l...

Rachel has ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Recently, she sat down to talk with Cody about her personal journey, what she's learned about valuing what we have now in life, and a ton of helpful information on ALS. Also on the podcast...Peach the bulldog!  >>Theme Music by Michael Shynes , "The Other Side"<< Music featured in this week's episode: Beò , Sémø "This Life of Time...

Between each episode, Cody offers a brief reflection on the themes he discussed with his guest the week before. In this reflection, Cody reflects on his conversation with Dr. Bob and the idea of faith and caring. In the most human sense, faith and caring are about compassion, empathy, and a commitment to the wellbeing of others. Quoting Ram Dass, Cody talks about what “walking each other home” rea...

Bob is a retired pediatrician with prostate cancer who has seen diagnosis and treatment procedures change dramatically over the decades. His devotion to his family and his deep understanding of the medical world open up a fascinating conversation with Cody around the themes of living well, facing difficult realities, and the importance of caring for one another.  >>Theme Music by Michael Shy...