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Be Not Afraid Beyond Medicineor for the sake of others who don’t want to let him go?Are we trying to uphold an ethical standard, or lettingourselves be pressured into something by someonewhose main interest is research?Moving beyond medicine does not mean belittlingits role, or shunning the very real assistance it providesin battling infection or relieving pain. But it does meantaking our focus off injections, pills, and white counts,and training it on the social and spiritual dimensions ofdying – things that are ultimately far more important.When it became clear that Pat, an elderly colleague witha long history of heart disease, didn’t have much timeleft, he and his family decided against hospitalization.Doing this meant going against the advice of severalspecialists – hospitals always seem to have “just onemore thing you could try” up their sleeve. And they’llrarely, if ever, encourage you to take matters into yourown hands. But Pat’s family did, and didn’t regret it,even when he died a few weeks later: “We could allbe right there, including the youngest grandchildren.It would have been a waste of precious time for himto spend those last days away from home, in somehospital.”Tina, a woman who died at home, made little use ofthe medical help she had access to, especially toward