Belleville, IL Death Cafe





Our 9/26 meeting was amazing! We unveiled our Before I Die wall that will be secured on the outside of the Miscellanea House Cafe. Over 11 participants signed the wall and we discussed the wall that will be unveiled at Southwestern Illinois College's Schmidt Art Center patio on 10/12 starting at 9am. We were pleased to see some diversity in signatures. We had signatures in English, Chinese, Hebrew, Italian, and Spanish. The wall will be attached to the side of the Miscellanea House Cafe on Monday, 10/5.

We continued discussion on prearrangements and the importance of starting the conversation. This also took us back to a conversation about the new "Conversation Project" that is supposed to make doctors responsibile for the honest prognosis for a terminally ill patient. There were a lot of experiences where doctors were not very honest with patients and sometimes left that conversation for the nurses to handle.

Fortunately, due to the "Conversation Project" this issue may be resolved in the near future. We discussed how much it would mean for a doctor to be honest in prognosis so the patient and the family can prepare for impending death and talk openly amongst each other about arrangements and things the patient may need or want prior to impending death.

There are still so many families that shut down when it comes to discussing death - essentially, they don't. A few participants discussed their frustration in trying to deal with members of family they just ignore that conversation and refuse to have it. Hopefully, by next meeting, we can come up with some ideas for opening the door for the conversation to those who try to keep that door locked. 

The next meeting is scheduled on a Sunday this time due to scheduling conflicts for the month of October. The meeting will be held on Sunday, October 18 from 2 - 4 p.m. CST.

We do wish to thank all those who have worked so hard in helping us with the Before I Die wall.  See pictures attached with more to follow.


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