About Silver Mangos
About Dr. Luis Pagan-Carlo
Growing up in a multi-generational household, Dr. Pagan-Carlo saw all the stages of life up close. In his family’s hometown in Puerto Rico, there were mango trees beside the cemetery where his grandfather is buried. When his grandmother would discuss death with him as a child, she explained it as simply “going to the mango grove,” without the dread and doom many feel when thinking about the end.
At an early age, he learned that death was a natural part of life, just like the trees growing fruit next to the graves.
When Dr. Pagan-Carlo was a young man, his father became ill. As his father’s medical proxy, he was tasked with determining his care. The challenge of making important choices for a loved one stayed with him, as he navigated a series of medical decisions following his father’s end-of-life wishes.
Dr. Pagan-Carlo started his career in engineering, but felt called to practice medicine instead. He became a board certified cardiologist and gained over 28 years of clinical experience. He served as the Founder and Medical Director of a suburban hospital’s cardiology division; Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health; founder of Avyscoer, a medical technology startup; and co-founder of Red & Black Properties, which revitalizes outdated homes in Athens, Georgia.
In his work with patients, Dr. Pagan-Carlo became known for his purpose-driven and pragmatic approach to end-of-life choices. He realized that flaws in medical training presented death as a failure of life, and led to “technological flailing”—unnecessary and at times painful procedures to keep a near-death patient alive without consideration for their quality of life.
He sought to offer patients more honest, holistic, and compassionate guidance when facing the end. Because of his medical expertise and powerful philosophy, he was often called upon by families to consult with patients facing difficult news and terminal diagnoses.
Dr. Pagan-Carlo wrote Your Life’s Choice to help patients explore their options, determine their final wishes, and create the necessary documents to ensure those wishes will be carried out. He founded Silver Mangos to educate patients, make this aspect of estate-planning accessible, and change the conversation around end-of-life choices.
Silver Mangos
Today, there are numerous factors that deter patients from thinking about or planning for the end of life.
Families don’t often live with multiple generations in one home, and as a result, have less exposure to the different stages of life. The children of elderly patients are not comfortable addressing the parent’s age and ultimate death.
In overwhelmed medical systems, patients don’t always see the same doctor or the doctor they feel most comfortable to help them at the end of life. In times of crisis, split-second decisions may be made by doctors they’ve never met, or by family members under extreme duress.
Without making end-of-life choices in advance, the wishes of the patient can get lost entirely.
Many families never discuss what to do if serious medical decisions need to be made, where they’d like their assets to go, and what they’d like to happen at the end of their lives. Silver Mangos teaches audiences that there’s another way to approach and plan for the end.
Drawing on Dr. Pagan-Carlo’s expertise and method, Silver Mangos helps patients, partners, and families make end-of-life choices ahead of time. Thinking about your last wishes is an empowering way to give peace of mind to your family members, care for your loved ones, and honor a life well-lived.
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