On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Snapshot · On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Lucy Kalanithi: What Loss Can Teach Us About Living (The Perspective Shift That Changes Everything)

Explore episode Jul 1, 2026

Where this was said

Sharing Life-Changing News

At 1:07:05 · chapter starts 1:05:21

Jay raises the question his monk friend's death left him with: where is the line between letting go and giving up? Lucy's answer reframes the question entirely — a thing is happening, and the goal is to provide care that makes that thing the best possible version of itself, with patient values as the north star. She traces how death has become dangerously medicalized and hidden in America, with technology designed for emergencies being applied to the very old with failing organs. Her most actionable insight: ask for a palliative care team. She carefully distinguishes palliative care (for any serious illness, any age, any stage) from hospice (for those expected to die within 6 months), explains that palliative care only became a recognized US medical specialty about 20 years ago, and notes it covers chaplaincy, nursing, social work, and medicine in a concurrent model — treating the whole family.

Health & Fitness
What Palliative Care Actually Is — and Why It's Misunderstood

Lucy Kalanithi: What Loss Can Teach Us About Living (The Pe… · Jul 1, 2026 Health & Fitness

Palliative care is not hospice. A 22-year-old with curable Hodgkin's lymphoma can receive palliative care. It's a medical specialty that combines chaplaincy, nursing, social work, and medicine — and it treats the whole family. It only became a US medical specialty 20 years ago, and you can simply ask for it.

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