[ravingnutter]

It's going to take a couple of weeks for her to starve to death, because she is in reasonable physical health.

You are correct...my dad had PSP, a form of Parkinson's and was on a feeding tube, but the feeding tube was failing and they could not get another feeding tube to "take". They could have put him on intravenous feeding, but it would only have prolonged his life a month at best. He made the conscious decision not to go that route and he died two weeks later of starvation. It was very hard on our family, as once the process started, we were not allowed to give him a mere sip of water, even if he asked for it, we were only allowed to swab his mouth. I have still not fully recovered emotionally from the ordeal, not sure I ever will.

[MEGoody]

"I have still not fully recovered emotionally from the ordeal, not sure I ever will."

My heart goes out to you and yours at the terrible loss of your father.

[Old Professer]

we were not allowed to give him a mere sip of water, even if he asked for it, we were only allowed to swab his mouth. I have still not fully recovered emotionally from the ordeal, not sure I ever will.

I'm not sure you should.

[I still care]

What an ordeal. I remember once we had a patient who had AIDS, and made the decision to not be put on a ventilator. Until he wasn't able to breathe. A couple of hours of that and he countermanded the DNR.

Life is sometimes so hard, so difficult. My heart goes out to you.

My husband (a young man) died very suddenly a few months ago. The deputy came up to me and told me he was more fortunate than many people, that speed is only tough on the people left behind.

While my husband should have had many more healthy years, your testimony reminds me that God, in a way, blessed my husband with a gift many people don't get - a painless death.

[PleaseNoMore]

My father died in a similar way. It was absolutely one of the most heart wrenching situations you can imagine. My father had laryngeal cancer and the tumor grew to massive proportions blocking his ability to eat or drink. I can remember my father desperately trying to get some Ensure down and it just coming back up. He could not have a feeding tube inserted because the procedure itself was a risk to him. A feeding tube would not have saved his life but it would have lessened some of his suffering.