Posted on 01/06/2013 12:00:02 AM PST by MacMattico
I don’t have medical POA, she hasn’t needed anything close to dialysis and has no fever as of a few hours back when I was there. When I realized they weren’t going to feed her, I did my damnedest to wake her up so she could express her wishes. I will do my hardest to get her to wake up and express her views again. She’s always been so afraid to talk about her own death, though— not afraid of the afterlife but the actual process so I don’t know how this will turn out. I’m really sorry about your mother.
That’s a really good idea.
It sounds like they might be giving her drugs to make her sleep. I have seen this done with elderly patients before...and worse. If she sleeps, she doesn’t try to get out of bed. She doesn’t ask for anything. She doesn’t bother anyone. No problem.
Find out immediately what kinds of medications she is receiving, and if they will not SHOW you and explain to you every single one, why she is receiving it, what the effects are, etc., get an attorney and force the issue.
My prayers are with you.
BTTT
I hate to sound tinfoily, but is it even remotely possible that she was coerced into signing something while you weren’t there? Does she have a Living Will? Do you or anyone else in your family have Power of Attorney?
HELP!!!
Call Terry’s family,they help a few people I referred them to.
Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network
Need Help?
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/
Call Terry’s family,they help a few people I referred them to.
Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network
Need Help?
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/
Sometimes I think the tinfoil hat is correct...
Get. A. Different. Doctor.
My mother had ovarian cancer which turned out to have metastasized throughout her abdomen. It was unlikely that she would survive it, but still, days and weeks are precious when a family is saying goodbye. I think my mom’s doctors deliberately hastened her death as well. (For her own good, of course. I’m sure they really thought that.)
Get a different doc right away. Insist on it. Move her to a different hospital if you have to.
Sorry for the double post.Also Hospital’s have a Patient Advocate.Ask for one.Someone needs power of Attorney,start that tom.In Pa it could not be a family member.You will need 3 signatures and notarized.I printed the form off the internet.They give you the information on each state laws there.I was able to get it done in 2 days.They drugged my Mom up so bad she forgot to breath.She was to be released the next day.Freepmail me if you want to talk and we will pray,((((Hugs)))Fatima
Bump
BTW, this is a minor point but perhaps worth making: Don’t feed her Ensure, at least the milkshake version. That gunky cr*p clogged up my dying mother’s throat and made it hard for her to swallow properly, and then she got pneumonia from aspirating it. She kept asking for just clear broth or something more liquid, and they kept giving her the milkshake stuff that she couldn’t handle. She didn’t have lung involvement until she started aspirating the milkshake Ensure, and then the pneumonia finally finished her off. (Oh, along with a medical “mistake” by her docs.)
Ask why, if she can’t eat, she isn’t on total parenteral nutrition. Make sure you get a satisfactory answer.
Mac, find out if she signed a ‘living will’. They offer them routinely and many older patients do not understand what they are signing even though it might be a death warrant. She can forego food and hydration and/or ‘heroic methods’ of keeping her alive and not even know she did it. You need to demand to see her medical records.
Prayers on the way for your Mom, and prayers for peace for you and your sisters as you get to the bottom of whatever is going on.
And if you are able to get her awake and aware, try to get her wishes for a Living Will, and medical Power of Attorney on paper. Maybe your priest can help with that.
My elderly aunt has been suffering serious circulation problems and is in danger of losing one if not both of her legs. A month ago my cousin discussed options with her Mom’s doctor about what could be done to save the leg. The doctor told her there was an operation that could be performed and that it had about a 50/50 chance of success. The doctor also told her flat out that if the operation could even be scheduled it needed to be done by the end of the month (ie., the end of the year) because as of January 1, 2013, parts of Ubama’s Mengelecare program were due to kick in and the operation my aunt needed would not be approved under that program. The cheaper option would be amputation, and that’s what would be approved and paid for under Mengelecare.
(Note that these kinds of “approvals” are not required for members of congress.)
Does that help your understanding of Ubama and the Democrats’ Mengelecare?
Very good ideas here. My dear husband passed away in May. Although we had good insurance and a great understanding Doctor we had to fight for TPN. When we went home with hospice we were able to convince them (hospice) we would not sign on with them without TPN. They broke their rules for us!
When my mother passed away years ago, her Dr. said no feeding tube and she said she didn’t want one. We were able to talk her into it and insisted that she be given one. She told us if she had known how much better it would make her feel she would have wanted it a long time before. She died shortly after that.
You have to do what you think is right.
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