At the end of their lives, everyone faces the same questions: Am I ready? Do I have anything to sort out? What am I really afraid of? There are five tasks that we all usually need to complete so that we can say goodbye in peace: ask for forgiveness, grant forgiveness, give thanks, say “I love you” and say “goodbye”. Through real-life stories of the patients that the author has accompanied to the end of their lives, we appreciate the importance of completing these tasks and discover the stage we are at with ours.
Julio Gómez Cañedo (Bilbao, 1969) is a doctor and expert in palliative care. He currently works in the palliative care team in Hospital San Juan de Dios de Santurtzi (Bizkaia), co-ordinates the Psychosocial Attention Team at the same hospital and is a member of the Castille Ethics Committee of the Orden Hospitalaria San Juan de Dios (CECAS). He is the autor of Cuidar siempre es posible.