What do families do about their lost dreams? - Guy W. Fried, MD

Beware of blaming the patient.  And that’s a fine line out there, because it’s hard to get into a conversation about the patient without it turning into a pity party, and then somehow, you’re blaming the patient for what they did to your lives.  “I was planning on retirement.  You got this injury because you did something I don’t like, or I’m not supportive of, or in hindsight, I don’t think was very smart.  Therefore, I’m going to dump on you.”  So, the family needs to work out their own issues on their own time.  They need to talk about their losses with professional help, or with other family members that are going through the losses, and they need to contain themselves.  Their losses are their losses.  The patient’s loss is the patient’s loss; you don’t want the families dumping.