End of life care: is it reasonable to perform procedure after procedure on someone who is dying in the hopes of prolonging their life for days or weeks?
This is a question that I have had to deal with in my life. My mother got sick with what the doctor thought was pneumonia. As all the conventional antibiotics did nothing to help her and she declined dramatically to the point where she needed to be put on a respirator and the doctor started to suspect that she had a terminal illness we were faced with a question: do we unhook her from the respirator and let her pass away gently or do we keep going with killer doses of steroids in the hopes that something might change but knowing she would more than likely burst a lung and die on the respirator? We chose taking her off the respirator.
I believe you must do what you think you need to do when a loved one is critically ill. But I also think that we all need to have conversations with the people we love so they know what we want in the event you become uncommunicative. I also believe that doctors need to be honest about the chances of the different procedures and caution against procedures that won’t provide a marked improvement of their chances.
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This is a difficult question. My mother faced this situation w/ her own mother. She chose to extend my grandmother’s life artificially, and it was not pleasant. My grandmother suffered terribly as did her children.
Thank you for posting this question. I will have a talk with my next of kin very soon to let them know my wishes about end of life care.
I have had this conversation with my mom at her lawyers office just to be clear as to what she wants if this time should come. I am her medical power of attorney, so I wanted it in writing so my other relatives will understand what she wants.
My husband and I have already had this discussion. I’ve also had it with my mom and step-dad. We all know were we stand. My husband his advanced medical directive written up already along with his will (the fun things we got to do before deployment). I haven’t had my drawn up yet, but my husband and mother know exactly what I want.
No. I do not believe in interfering with natures plan.
If the odds are 50/50 or less, pull the plug.
I would look at the age of the person, their relative attitude and health before the current ailement and then weigh the damages of prolonging against the possible recovery. In your shoes I would have done the same.
I think it depends on the circumstances and the wishes of the sick person. But generally I think the emphasis should be less on stretching out a few more days of lif, than making the remainng ones as comfortable as possible.
We have all had this talk in my family and are on the same page – comfort and quality of life versus painful intervention when the situation is terminal. Of course, each situation presents itself differently and the choices you may have to make will vary. Both my mother and mother-in-law are nearing the ends of their lives and we, knowing their own wishes, are opting for slower, less invasive forms of treatment where possible.
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