Posted on 07/19/2008 12:13:46 PM PDT by neverdem
When Hazel Homer was 99, more than one doctor advised that there was little to be done about her failing heart except wait for it to fail a final time. But Mrs. Homer was not interested in waiting to die of what many would call old age.
Now, at 104, her heart is still ticking, thanks to a specialized pacemaker and defibrillator that synchronizes her heartbeat and can administer a slight shock to revive her if her heart falters.
Her operation, a month before her 100th birthday, reflects what some doctors are hailing as a new frontier in medicine: successful surgery for centenarians. But others say that such aggressive treatment for what are euphemistically known as the late elderly can be wasteful and barbaric, warning that the rush to test the limits of technology can give patients false hope and compound their health challenges with surgical complications.
“She’s just a peek into the future,” said Dr. Steven M. Greenberg, a Long Island cardiologist who performed Mrs. Homer’s surgery, for which the average Medicare reimbursement at the time was $35,000.
Data is hard to come by, since people over 75 are scarcely represented in clinical trials, but several geriatricians said that procedures that two decades ago were seldom considered for people in their 90s are now increasingly commonplace. They include hip and knee replacement, cataract surgery, heart valve replacement, bypass operations, pacemaker implantation and treatment for slow-growing cancers that afflict areas like the prostate.
According to the Census Bureau, there were 90,422 centenarians in America in June, up from 50,454 in 2000, and demographers project there could be 1.1 million by 2050. As for 104-year-olds, the Social Security Administration said that 2,114 of them currently receive benefits.
With such rapid growth of centenarians, debate has mounted over how far to go...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Use that URL to access multimedia about Mrs. Homer and her daughter.
I thought you might be interested.
The original line of thinking was probably that complications from heroic surgery might simply take away whatever time the person would have had left without it, but modern methods are apparently far less traumatic and can indeed extend life.
Kiss it goodbye once we get government-run healthcare.
Oh, yeah, according to the marxist doctrine old people should just shut up and die. I just had a pace maker put in(my second one)and I am 66. Had a potassium problem 10 years ago and had to have a pace maker put in or they wouldn’t let me drive, even though I didn’t really need it after they fixed the potassium problem. However, the next one I need I will be about 76, so do I get it or will Hillary care be in force then and kick me to the curb saying I am too old for such “aggressive” treatment(BTW, I really need the pace maker now).
Exactly. Some things, like a pacemaker, are pretty simple but can mean the difference between life and death. Common sense needs to be used.
If Grandma is alive and well at 99 and wants to live to 104, then she should be worth $35,000 to keep alive for 5 extra years.
“ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS” sounds painful!
But the good Doctor still gets their surgery fee.
Expect to see more stories like these as the Baby Boom generation inches closer to their Maker and doctors want to add a wing to their house.
Well I remember one former republican governor, who also ran for President, said, Old people have a duty to die or something similar, forget the name but remember the sentiment.
FMCDH(BITS)
There are people for whom this surgery would be worth it, and probably more for whom it would be just more pain.
But in any case, if socialized medicine gets in, this will be moot. In any socialized system there has to be rationing. Canada does it by not licensing doctors and nurses and making long wait times. Other countries do it by simply saying over a certain age or weight or such you don’t get care.
I’ve worked in hospitals. You never know how you are going to feel about it until you get there.
I remember rescinding orders for DNRs because when they came to the point they couldn’t breath anymore, they would panic and beg for treatment and even respirators.
And I remember one woman, full of life, who was in the throes of a painful (probably terminal) illness who asked me to come to her room and pray for her to die.
Hospital 'starved' elderly mother
And from 2007....
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I guess that's true...to a point,at least.I too worked in a hospital (in the ER...administration) and,as you can imagine,saw a fair number extremely urgent cases come in...some of which were like the one you described (acute SOB).Your ability to rescind a DNR order leads me to assume that you're a physician (I've never known an RN with that authority) so I must defer to your experience in this matter.
But for me,if the issue in an end of life situation is pain (at the age of 99) I'm sure that I'd ask them to hit me with all the Dilaudid they have.If the issue is acute SOB then I guess I can't say for sure.
I try not to miss an opportunity to remind people that if they have elderly relatives, that for them to go to the hospital or emergency room is hit or miss. In many places, an older woman who has passed a bloody bowel movement is lower priority than a child with a splinter.
In some, of course, older patients get top notch care.
However, it helps enormously if the elderly have a younger relative with them to insure that they get reasonable service and care.
I was horrified once, when seeing what was supposed to be a top quality nursing home. Almost exclusively elderly women, who spent most of their waking ours sitting side by side in a corridor, in wheelchairs, staring at blank walls, or out of it altogether.
I can understand, if not sympathize, with those health care professionals who are sick of looking at that.
Well the elderly are also the human lab-rats for interns and residents. Great hands on training for surgeries.
we'll lick the infirmities of old age yet!
Most likely at some point, but then again, what is the point? Are we to ignore the fact that "room" must be made for the new and cling to this life as the only alternative? I believe He intended everyone to live a fruitful and fulfilling life. The timeframe is our invention.
This is a painful subject for me, but in the end, I will try to welcome His relief, whether for me or one of my own.
FMCDH(BITS)
We'll see how far Jack Lalanne gets. If he can make it to 120, then we'll know it can be done.
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