A close inlaw has had dementia for over a decade, he was extremely upset at first as he was brilliant in his field and was losing his marbles slowly. Eventually he lost it all, including his ability to walk or speak(except gibberish)
had he realized he would have to be changed like a baby and that he was just a blank slate lying in a bed for almost a decade. I know he would have hoped he would have passed a long time ago.
religious doctrine notwithstanding, I refuse to have that type of existence.
A close inlaw has had dementia for over a decade, he was extremely upset at first as he was brilliant in his field and was losing his marbles slowly. Eventually he lost it all, including his ability to walk or speak(except gibberish)
had he realized he would have to be changed like a baby and that he was just a blank slate lying in a bed for almost a decade. I know he would have hoped he would have passed a long time ago.
religious doctrine notwithstanding, I refuse to have that type of existence.
**
I know what you’re saying. As an RN, I’ve seen the worst.
If I was moving into end stage dementia, I’d just prefer that they allow me to live naturally, without life prolonging medications ...no BP meds, no nothing — just let me go and die as I should — through the natural course. I feel, honestly, this is how it used to be with dementia, so we didn’t see the extreme cases.
It’s a terrible ethical dilemma brought to us by advanced technology. I’m sorry — why treat my heart failure if my brain doesn’t even function anymore?
I pray that is not God’s plan for me.