Sunday, December 30, 2012

Facing terminal illness: Financial planning for his survivors | Synopsis

Facing terminal illness: Financial planning for his survivors

steve and mom
steve and mom by chadmagiera
License (according to Flickr): Attribution License
Excerpt:

Steve West spends mornings with his granddaughter, Gracie, 2, who has learned to hug him even though he can't hug back. Steve West cheated death once. In the summer of 1969, when he was 17, Steve and a friend were camping in Tennessee when they wandered down a nearby path. The trail hugged the side of a cliff on one side, with a 100-foot drop on the other. This story is part of a three-part series on the financial challenges families face when a loved one is dying. Part One tackled funeral costs, Part Two, the costs and options to make the end of life as comfortable as possible. Steve lost his footing. The fall would have killed him if some branches hadn't broken his descent. As it was, it took 10 hours for rescue workers to reach him.

People:

Steve

Overall Sentiment: -0.0366488

Relevance: 0.824821

SentimentQuote
-0.513513Steve began to feel that his left leg wasn't quite right -- he had "tingling sensations," ...
0"The distances kept getting shorter and shorter," he says. ...
0"I can whip their asses," he says. ...
0"There were hundreds of decisions to make," Steve recalls. ...
-0.305031"There was sadness early on, in recognizing what it meant, but it didn't really last that long," he says. ...
-0.209246"There was sadness early on, in recognizing what it meant, but it didn't really last that long," he says. "There was also anxiety, not so much over the prospect of dying, as getting things situated for the rest of our lives."
-0.0410844"With a ventilator and a feeding tube, your life can be significantly prolonged," says Steve.
-0.243992"With a ventilator and a feeding tube, your life can be significantly prolonged," says Steve. "But it's not very pleasant for anybody, family or patient."
Sentiment Stats:
  • Number of Quotes: 8
  • Aggregate Sentiment: -1.3128664
  • Mean: -0.1641083
  • Standard Deviation: 1.4142135623731

Pam

Overall Sentiment: 0.018841

Relevance: 0.550801

SentimentQuote
0Pam recalls, "It was so mild I said to him, 'You're just getting old. Start walking.'"
-0.248649"I would wrap my arms around him, and I could feel these little chi-chi-chi-chi-chi-chi movements in his muscles," says Pam.
-0.228237"I would wrap my arms around him, and I could feel these little chi-chi-chi-chi-chi-chi movements in his muscles," says Pam. "It was like holding twinkling stars."
0.0510167Pam would respond, "There is no cure."
Sentiment Stats:
  • Number of Quotes: 4
  • Aggregate Sentiment: -0.4258693
  • Mean: -0.106467325
  • Standard Deviation: 1.4142135623731

Steve West

Overall Sentiment: -0.0488892

Relevance: 0.323772

Pamela Learned

Overall Sentiment: -0.033859

Relevance: 0.163651

Lou Gehrig

Overall Sentiment: 0.187762

Relevance: 0.156035

Gracie

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.152643

Pam.

Overall Sentiment: -0.344993

Relevance: 0.110229

SentimentQuote
-0.468474"Doing battle with insurance was the biggest nightmare until we got into Medicare," says Pam. ...
Sentiment Stats:
  • Number of Quotes: 1
  • Aggregate Sentiment: -0.468474
  • Mean: -0.468474
  • Standard Deviation: 1.4142135623731

Mark

Overall Sentiment: 0.15054

Relevance: 0.104796

Key:

  • Aggregate Sentiment is meant to be an indicator of an individual's overall sentiment.
  • The Mean is meant to be an indicator of an individual's average comment sentiment.
  • The Standard Deviation, when there are enough quotes, will indicate an individual's consistency of sentiment (i.e. a Standard Deviation of 0 would mean they were very consistent in their sentiment and 1 would mean they were very inconsistent).

Note that quote stats are likely to be meaningless beyond the aggregate score due to the tiny sample size. However, they are always provided just in case you find something useful there.

Additional Info:

Company: ALS

Overall Sentiment: -0.144924

Relevance: 0.32171

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