Posted on 12/07/2011 1:11:20 AM PST by JerseyanExile
Not a problem, Nifster, I understand your point of view.
I think it is true that many medical personnel are more clearheaded and realistic about what they want at end of life, but in my experience they don’t forgo traditional medical treatment for non-traditional treatments in any percentage larger than the population at large.
Beautiful comments Maria - you’re in my prayers. Thanks for sharing.
Your post was beautiful - you’re in my prayers, drierice. Thanks for sharing.
My dad had a stroke that completely incapacitated him requiring 24 x 7 care, and we were fortunate enough to be able to find a way to take care of him in his own home.
He lived for five months after the stroke and spent the first two in an acute care rehab, with no return of any function.
It almost killed my mom, because she did most of the work along with my brother, but my other siblings were able to spend a couple of nights and the occasional weekend there spelling them.
My dad always told me the thing he feared most in life was having an incapacitating stroke. Funny how that happens. It is like Room 101 in Orwell’s “1984”. Everyone knows what is in Room 101. For my dad, it was an incapacitating stroke.
But you know what? What I learned about my father and myself, and what I got out of that five months, I couldn’t have gained any other way. Strange. He was never able to comfortably hear his sons tell him how much they loved him, but when he had no choice, couldn’t interrupt, couldn’t leave the room, had no choice but to lay there and hear it...and his eyes, that were the only thing he could communicate with, told he was okay with that...:)
We teased him a bit about it too...and he seemed okay with that.
I wouldn’t trade those five months for anything. (except, of course, five months of improved health for him) They meant that much to me.
There were less than five doctors who would work on it in the nation, and probably no more then ten in the world. It was VERY invasive surgery. A gun shot wound to the head would be less invasive (literally).
Many doctors told me that “He shouldn't have the surgery”. A few tried the financial route, which might have worked with mom, but only really angered Dad and myself.
Dad is not at all the same as before. But he is almost 90% there. Honestly, it is a miracle in many ways, and his surgeon agrees.
Why did Dad do it? Well, we Nebraskan Germans don't like being told just lay down and die. He wanted to live to see more grand kids. And he has. But with the coming regulations, he would be denied surgery because it is to expensive (even though he had private insurance), and because he is to old. This article is just one more attempt to teach the public that they have a duty to lay down and die.
Amen
You read my mind...this is an article with a definite point.. die..do not use up our resources.. for a useless life like yours
Life is precious.. ALL life is precious..even the blind and death and retarded life is precious.. I vote for life..
propaganda. not sure I believe the story in the first
paragraph (NB I’m not SURE) but I believe we can all
see the aim of this screed.
not with me as a subject, thanks. does anyone else notice
that if medical abandonment becomes routine, it will
happen earlier and earlier? those who actually have
diabetes might weigh in. I do know one elderly gentleman
who had an entirely successful operation for diabetic
complications (lost a toe) after age 80. Don’t believe
the dezo here. If no operations are done, no one will
know how to do any.
yup, more and more “Fog of Confusion” media items, more
and more “FUD” BTW this line of FUD has been in production
for 20 some years.
You put it much better than I did, and I didn’t pick up
on the possibility of political use of medical denial
either.
Thank you. My observations are the same, but I do not
have any years of hospital experience.
my sincerest thanks for the reporting on Zocalo.
excellent extrapolation. may I use this, with attribution,
elsewhere?
I’ve got one report in the Jewish Observer (1990s, don’t
have cite handy) about how a no-code was averting when
the patient’s wife forcefully told the medical staff her
husband did *NOT* have a DNR. She was there, heard them
tell each other no code was necessary. I know another woman
whose father died bc of a “slow code”. So I do not believe
everyone without DNR escapes CPR, however futile it may
seem. BTW the first man lived for some months to see some
family events (but I can’t recall which)
Of course, I am flattered and glad to be able to convey the concept as I saw it.
Agreed. I have already fought this fight once and would do it again.
Thanks...it is one of the reasons I like Free Republic. I look at certain things a certain way, and I regret to say that doing so sometimes has a blinder effect. On FR, there are people who have a completely different angle from which they view, and I find that it helps me to see a different and often bigger part of the issue.
Pointing out that the website is likely run and supported by Leftists may or may not invalidate what the author said, but I think it is helpful to keep their perspective in mind.
Glad to help.
We took it to our attornry and she had no idea what it was. She asked for a few days to research the legality of the document and then bssically challenged us at every step when we met to fill it out. All we really want is nutrition, hydration and antibiotics for infections but she thought those were extraordinary means of care and kept asking why we would spend the money? She said most people say get it over and let them go so there is money left for the kids.
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