Time course of dying

[Tracie Lynn]

A prognosis is a prediction of the probable course and outcome of a disease or the likelihood of recovery from a disease. People often think that the doctor knows and can predict how long an ill person will live. The truth is that, generally, no one knows when an ill person will die. Families should not press for exact predictions or rely on those that are offered. Such exact predictions are often wrong because there is so much variation in how long people can live with a disease. Sometimes very sick people live a few months or years, well past what seems possible. Other people die quickly. If a dying person wants a particular person there at the time of death, arrangements may have to accommodate that wish for an indefinite amount of time. However, estimating a range of time in which a person is likely to die is sometimes necessary. For example, hospice care usually requires a doctor’s prognosis of less than 6 months to live.
Rather than asking their doctor “How much time do I have?” or “Am I likely to die within 6 months?,” it might be better for people to ask for the typical range of survival—the shortest and longest amount of time a person is reasonably likely to live.
Sometimes, doctors offer hope by describing remarkable recoveries without also mentioning the high likelihood that most people who have such serious conditions will die much more quickly. If doctors try to be too optimistic or unrealistic, gravely ill people and their families eventually find this