Posted on 12/07/2011 1:11:20 AM PST by JerseyanExile
It would be interesting to see some actual research into this theory.
Makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks for posting this.
If I found out I was terminal, I wouldn’t do a thing to stop it.
I’d enjoy life, get my things in order and get right with God.
Not necessarily in that order.
Maybe we go into medicine to figure out what death means. Kind of like how the kookiest docs go into psychiatry. I've never met a psychiatrist who didn't have mental illness of some kind.
Some of this article is realistic - futile measures at the end of life often are torturous. Performing CPR on a terminal cancer patient could count among them.
However, I have personally helped bring two people back with CPR and an AED. Both recovered fully and are leading fullfilling lives with family and careers. What is the article suggesting? That I should have left my 37 year old colleague (with two young children) to die on the floor? That I should have allowed my 53 year old neighbor to die on the floor of her kitchen in front of her 16 year old son? Both were apparently healthy before suffering a sudden cardiac event.
The author needs to make a clearer distinction between people whose conditions are long-term and clearly terminal and who need loving care to ease their suffering and those who otherwise in decent health who have a sudden event.
True. From my limited private conversations with health professionals, I also understand that a certain percentage request that when the time comes, the dose of morphine be increased.
Expect to see more and more articles like this as Obamacare kicks in and we are all encouraged to forgo that bothersome end-of-life care to make the numbers look a little better.
That’s what I think. This is an advertisement for death.
That’s what I wasthinking as I read it.
I seem to recal reading about another dr many years ago who chose to fight her pancreatic cancer. I believ she tried a few unconventional treatments like having the chemo put in her abdominal cavity to bath the pancreas in it I thought she was pretty successful. Not sure how long she survived or if she survived. Fighting versus accepting....individual choice....at least for now.
If you’re at that point and there is no real treatment, other than to keep you doped up and unaware of your condition, what are you accomplishing?
Going the route of least treatment can be the most humane, especially if it involves chemo and radical treatments, but every situation is different.
The flip side of this is when a patient is in a coma, and the patient’s stated wishes were that everything reasonable, including life support, be available. This would not include unreasonable major surgeries with a low chance of success.
My experience has been, at least at one major hospital, that when the patient had gone into a coma for only a FEW days, the doctors quickly went death panel on me and pushed to end all treatment.
The patient was my wife, 49, who had a stroke, and a brain tumor was found. The prognosis was bad, but her vital signs were good, and ending her life would have barred any chance for a miracle. Once in a coma, the doctors did pain tests and brain activity tests and found she felt no pain.
Yet they still pushed me to consider her “quality of life”, saying further treatment could be “cruel” and cause her to suffer. I refused to have the breathing tube removed, citing that since she was in a coma and out of pain, that no one could ascertain her quality of life, and that she indeed may be in a state of peace. She passed away on her own a few days later, 4 months ago. If I had followed the insistence of the doctors, I couldn’t have lived with the decision. So there’s many sides to these situations, and it can come down to a specific doctor’s philosophy or the patient’s, vs. the hospital. And sorry for the unpleasant post.
I have already told my doctor my wishes, he said at the time, I feel the same way you do. Just let me go...Its not the governments decision, its the family but mostly the patients decision. If family members cannot respect any decision the patient made, do them a favor and just leave them alone and don't bother to visit, cause you don't love them enough to respect their wishes....
You care more about the pain you will feel when they pass and are not honoring their wishes therefore you are not honoring them.... I nursed both of my parents in my home when they were terminal, For my father is was less than a week and he died....my mother was a little over 6 weeks...I was not going to let them die in a nursing home or hospital. Had 5 kids at the time and found time to care for my parents...they died 10 years apart...
It can be hard for a child to follow the parents wishes, but at least you know you are carrying out their wishes and not doing it on your own..If one of the children doesn't agree with the decision, too bad cause that is spelled out in the will...anyone that makes trouble for those that have been assigned the medical Power of Attorney are automatically cut out of the will...you have to cover all bases and spell out everything in legal document.
I would recommed you don't use just any lawyer, but a lawyer that specializes in that area and can have you avoid completely probate courts...It is the last loving thing you can do for your children. It shouldn't be their burden People should not leave the burden to their children to make that decision. Every person should have a Power of attorney for medical treatment spelled out and signed. Every couple of years I ask the 2 children that have the power if they think they can respect my wishes and if they think they can't, no problem, I will assign another to that job. Legally....
Pancreatic cancer is what Steve Jobs had. He fought it pretty well and lived longer than most do with that disease.
My will says only my wife can terminate my life. No court order, no bureaucrat, no doctor. Only my wife; she’s the only person on this planet that I trust with my life.
Funny how this article ignores the doctors that starved Terri Schiavo to death or the ones that kill babies. I guess they hadn’t seen enough end of life./s
My dentist who is affiliated with Mt Sinai in NYC told me that doctors turn to homeopathic medicine instead of having heart surgery, just because they know the results and what happens during surgery. At the time I thought this strange, but after reading this article,it makes sense. My 99 year old aunt passed away this past Sunday. She would have died four years ago, with dignity. Due to drugs, her illness was prolonged. During this time frame she was miserable as well as those around her.
My guess is, after seeing ends results of their patients, doctors decide how to treat themselves. Also that would show how much of a guinea pigs we are when we enter into the emergency room. It’s ALL about $$$.
Amen! I pray that God gives you strength to walk through this and help others with your wisdom learned and perhaps find joy in life again
Everyone needs to make sure the doctors follow the family wishes...Ihave heard doctors give family's prognosis but never heard one trying to force an opinion and for you, you did the right thing in the choice you made..no one person should try to push a decision on someone that they don't feel is the right decision...good for you being strong....
Your post was very good and sometims when we talk of such things on FR what we say may also be important to some other freeper that might be faced with the same situation
May God grant you peace and healing........GG
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