The last book from bestselling author and advocate Wendy Mitchell
'This beautiful book will give hope and courage to many people' Kathryn Mannix
'An uplifting memoir that reminds us we should relish every moment' Daily Mail
'A really thoughtful and thorough exploration of end-of-life concerns' Professor Celia Kizinger
After her diagnosis of young-onset dementia in 2014, Wendy spoke affectionately about the liberating feeling that came with having open conversations and confronting life's obstacles head on. So, in the years leading up to her death, Wendy set out to have what would be her most important conversation: to explore what options are available - and what options are denied - at the end of life.
Courageous, balanced and wise, One Last Thing lists the practical ways that we can prepare for death, offers the gentle words to raise the topic with our loved ones and consults leading experts to educate us on the topic of assisted dying.
One Last Thing - the best and most useful book I have read this year - is about how to die with dementia, a subject doctors tend not to address. She does not want to 'slip over the edge', she explains, and spend her last years inside a black hole . . . One Last Thing is an argument for assisted dying and also, invaluably, a guide to the paperwork and acronyms involved, including ACP, ReSPECT, LPA and DNACPR forms. It is curious, Mitchell notes, how little value we place on a good death when the death rate among us is 100 per cent