http://edition.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/02/24/canada.health.dispute/
“Experts say even if the family is granted this request, caring for a child in this condition is an arduous task.
Dr. David Casarett, director of research and evaluation at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wissahickon Hospice, says patients at home with tracheotomies need monitoring to make sure the airway is clear of secretions, the skin is clean and dry and someone can make sure the incision at the tracheotomy site does not get infected.
“A child’s care would be much more complex if a home ventilator is required, since the parents would need to manage the ventilator with the help of a nurse and respiratory therapist,” he said.”
From this I infer that when the sister was dying, they had the help of the Ontario Health services: probably a nurse every day at home, a therapist etc. etc. This is a very sad case but obscuring the cost won’t make it easier to solve.
And I don’t know if you are aware hat there are dangers and complications in the tracheotomy itself. For instance, if it moves, the child could die... It happened to a cousin of mine in an hospital.
So your concern is that the baby Joseph could die?
For a parent it is an act of love for their child, not an imposition. I would do the same for any one of my children or grandchildren in my home.
I have also cared for both of my parents in my home when they were dying of cancer. Mother lived 6 weeks before the multiple myloma took her life and she also had MS, paralysis from the waist down, indwelling catheter and her incision on the spine was opening up due to the fact that the cancer would soon be growing outside of her body and the cancer had spread to the spine and her surgery was for relief of pain and weekly blood work showed she could not receive any chemo to halt the grown the of tumor.
Father went faster and came to my home after surgery for colon cancer was canceled due to his developing acute leukemia and at his age, 85 chemo would have killed him and made his last few days miserable, he refused further treatment and came to my home to die.
what has been your experience with trach’s or is it all theory and what you have read....
The nurse and respiratory therapist would spend a few hours setting up equipment and ensuring that the family is taught how to manage the trach and vent. Not a big deal at all, it’s done all the time.
As a mother, nothing I would ever need to do for my child would be too arduous.