Please Pray For My Mom... and Advice-- Is this the Obama Death Panel in action? (Sad update #118)

Me

[Does so]

If she is responsive, try to get her feelings on the matter. Many times older folks reach a point where they feel they've fought the good fight and are ready to hangup the gloves.

I've seen this, and agree...

[Slings and Arrows]

Thanks. Hope I helped.

[TheSarce]

Mac, PLEASE take fatima’s suggestion and call Terri’s Network first thing this morning! They were the first thing I thought of when I saw your thread, her family formed the organization to help people in just this situation. I will be praying for your Mom, and for you.

Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network

If you have a family member who is in or potentially facing a life-threatening situation please contact us immediately:

Phone: Call TOLL-FREE 1.855.300.HOPE (4673)
http://www.terrisfight.org/need-help/

[dubyajam]

I am from Syracuse NY.... Kind of went thru something similar w my father. Is she at crouse irving? U may need to move her or demand another doctor. As stressful as this is, it will save her life.

[television is just wrong]

I feel for you. I have two sick inlaws. I can’t imagine

[RebelTex]

Prayers up!

Father in Heaven, please watch over MacMattico’s mother, heal her body, ease her pain, and comfort her family. Please provide caring physicians that give proper medical care and do what is needed for this lady to get well. I pray and ask these things in the name of Your Holy Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

[jmaroneps37]

Prayers up.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Prayerful Bump.

[MayflowerMadam]

Get her out of there. Get another physician.

In ‘07, my mom was taken to a hospital in Rochester, NY. Couldn’t lift her arms, open her eyes, walk, and when she tried to swallow and water came out her nose. She had to be carried. Since there was no nutrition, she was basically dying. The ER doctor said, “She’s just old”, and told us to take her home (to die). She was 82. We took her home because they wouldn’t admit her. This was before the “death panel” issue, but not before “affirmative action” in medical schools — if you get my drift.

That afternoon, my sister went online and diagnosed the problem as Myasthenia Gravis. She called the specific department at the hospital and said she was bringing her in and they had BETTER treat her. Mom went in and after 24 hours of IVIG, steroids, and IV hydration, she began to rally. Now she’s 88 and has more get-up-and-go than her kids do.

The days of being able to trust doctors to make correct diagnoses are gone. Every family member has to be pro-active. It’s a terrible state of affairs when a secretary can diagnose a problem that a physician can’t. We’re so used to taking as Gospel what a doctor decrees, but we can’t do that any more.

Are there Catholic hospitals in Syracuse where life is valued? I’m not Catholic, but is there an organization of Catholic attorneys who take on these kinds of cases? I know how helpless you feel — have been there. Will pray for her and you.

[kathie4guv]

I am a Texas attorney who litigated a case like this of starvation in a hospital (result was an over a million dollar judgment). NOTE: I have no interest in taking this or any other case outside of Texas. Here is what you need to know now.
1. You will never get through to this or most any other doctor. He spouts talking points he learned in medical school and that have been firmly reinforced in practice. He does not think nutrition matters, and it is an affront to him for you to think otherwise.
2. You must get your mother protein. Demand to see your mothers blood test results. Look for serum albumin (a measure of protein in the blood and a marker for malnutrition). It will show both the reading for your mother and a range of normal including panic values.
When the body does not get enough protein, it gets protein from its organs. The lung is the largest organ, hence the saying: death by starvation is death from pneumonia. Ensure is high in protein. Glucerna is an Ensure like product for diabetics. They even make a clear liquid product.
3. The persons you need to ally yourself with are the dietitians. Their whole purpose is nutrition. They were taught that nutrition matters. They are used to fighting the stupid games doctors play. Insist on meeting with your mother's assigned dietitian and the head dietitian. Insist on reading the dietitian's notes in your mother's chart. Don't be surprised if she has recommended a feeding.
tube.
Good luck. Your mother depends on you.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

That afternoon, my sister went online and diagnosed the problem as Myasthenia Gravis. She called the specific department at the hospital and said she was bringing her in and they had BETTER treat her. Mom went in and after 24 hours of IVIG, steroids, and IV hydration, she began to rally. Now she’s 88 and has more get-up-and-go than her kids do.

God bless your sister! And thanks for sharing this story. You may have saved someone's life.

I had a similar experience in self-diagnosis. I don't know how much you can blame the doctors. It varies by case. They have a limited amount of time to deal with each patient, whereas, in my case, I spent hundreds of hours doing research on the web. OTOH, in my case again, of three doctors, only one was able to get my diagnosis in the ballpark, which should have been fairly simple.

[Marie]

I had a friend who almost died from an abdominal infection years ago. She was in the ICU for almost 2 months.

They gave you IV nutrition. It was a huge needle that ran into her neck and pumped the nutrients directly into her veins.

There is no excuse to starve a person.

But you need to be aware that, if she’s gone 3 weeks without food, she would need to be refed very carefully. Her doctor may be right that she can’t handle it, but he should be DOING something to help her recover or to support her while she heals.

Many people don’t know that hundreds died in the week after the liberation of Auschwitz. The allied troops felt sorry for the starving prisoners and gave them candy.

It’s called ‘refeeding syndrome’. The body is in deep ketosis and very weak. You need to bring them back with fat, protein and nutrients. Just little bits of carbs every few hours with the other things.

There’s a reason for chicken soup.

When my mother was sick I would make her chicken or beef soup with veggies and some rice. I thickened it a little with corn starch so it didn’t come out too watery. I then blended it in the food processor into a paste. (It was the same recipe that I used to make homemade baby food for my son.) I fed her a bit every two hours.

[maddogtiger]

These new DNR protocols were started in our local hospital over a year ago as part of Obamacare. If the doctors and hospitals refuse to follow these guidelines there funding is cut off.

[maddogtiger]

These new DNR protocols were started in our local hospital over a year ago as part of Obamacare. If the doctors and hospitals refuse to follow these guidelines there funding is cut off.

[Twinkie]

Second opinions are good; doctors aren’t perfect as some of them might think they are. - Prayers for your mother.

[lysie]

Prayers going up for your mother, you and your family.

I have read through all the posts and you have been given great advice.

A few years back, we experienced a similar situation with my mil. Living near Syracuse, I could be wrong, but I have an idea what nursing home and hospital you are writing about.

(((MacMattico)))

[Bigg Red]

Prayers up.

[momtothree]

YOU and YOUR siblings are your Mother’s voice and advocate. The group of you cling together and stay strong as a group. GET her the heck out of there. Find an elder law attorney and fast. Talk to her GP and fast... get him to step in. Try to get her transferred to another hospital. I am not sure about NY hospitals but try to find another doctor in another hospital to “accept” her as his/her patient. He can then act as the accepting doctor. You may have to find the elder law attorney to start moving this process. As much as we balk at lawyers, when we really need one.. they matter. An attorney can scare the hospital into having her transferred.

Prayers for you and your Mom, of course. That goes without saying from me. May I add this note from personal experience: stay strong as a sibling unit. The in-laws should have no voice.. she isn’t their Mom. The last thing you need is a SIL or a BIL disagreeing and putting pressure on you. I’ve been in that position, MacMattico, and in laws can become the wedge. Please keep us posted and my prayers/best wishes/hopes are with you and your Mom. God Bless and hugs.

[Alamo-Girl]

How sad. I join in urgent prayer for your mom, you and all the family!

[thesearethetimes...]

It can FRiend, but it also can be only due to how ill they are at the time : |

My mom has COPD, and was in the hospital with pneumonia just this past October. On the first day she repeatedly expressed a desire to just pass on, but in the next days, as she got better, we never heard another word about it. *(She had a similar bout with pneumonia two years earlier, and my sister said she had followed the same emotional downturn, followed by a steady recovery.)

Even now, we will talk about things that happened during the time that she was the sickest, and she has NO memory of it, so she clearly was not in her right mind, and believe me, even after all of that, and at 84, she is back home, doing MUCH better than we expected and is almost as sharp as ever, which is pretty durn sharp, lol!

Prayers lifted for you in your loss, for MacMinnit’s mom and for all who are trying to stay strong against the challenges of this world.

May God keep watch.
Tatt