And were unable to communicate, wore diapers and could not change your own clothes or feed yourself- if you got pneumonia- would you want antibiotics?
Studies show statistically they make you less comfortable but will prolong your life.
Less comfortable than sitting in your own feces?
cognisant me would say no way
but the question is tough because at this point the patient can no longer say.
does the patient seem happy despite the limitations?
Curious how Trump will be involved in this thread
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Curious how Trump will be involved in this thread
Well he does have dementiaā¦
When my mother was in a similar situation (she had cancer, and full on dementia - body was fine, mind was gone) we did not give her chemo.
We did not want to prolong her life while making her more uncomfortable.
cognisant me would say no way
but the question is tough because at this point the patient can no longer say.
does the patient seem happy despite the limitations?
The patient that sparked this conversation (my mom) has a very well defined health care directive that I will fight to follow if necessary. IĆ¢ā¬ā¢m not looking for direction- just curious what others would choose.
//When my mother was in a similar situation (she had cancer, and full on dementia - body was fine, mind was gone) we did not give her chemo.
We did not want to prolong her life while making her more uncomfortable. //
IĆ¢ā¬ā¢m sorry you had to go through this. We were in a similar situation and made the same decision. Difficult as it was it was the right decision.
Too broad to answer. What stage dementia? Early - yes. Very late stage - maybe. Will it make them more comfortable? Yes.
My Dad had dementia and there was a point after he fell that the dementia was rapidly progressing. They also found that he had a tumor on his kidney and we/doctor decided that trying to do surgery for that wasnāt worth the risk.
Sorry you are having to deal with this.
And were unable to communicate, wore diapers and could not change your own clothes or feed yourself- if you got pneumonia- would you want antibiotics?
Studies show statistically they make you less comfortable but will prolong your life.
If that was my state, I would not feel like I had a good quality of life and I would not want drugs that would prolong said life. More morphine, less antibiotics.
I would not. I would only want things that would provide me comfort. But IĆ¢ā¬ā¢m a pull the plug kind of person on myself. Easier said than done to make that decision for a loved one. I never really appreciated how hard until I went through it with my grandmother.
Curious how Trump will be involved in this thread
Thereās no possible way anyone could possibly link Dementia and Trump in the same sentenceā¦
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No.
When my mother was in a similar situation (she had cancer, and full on dementia - body was fine, mind was gone) we did not give her chemo.
We did not want to prolong her life while making her more uncomfortable.
I donāt intend this to be an attack on religion. But if her mind is gone, treatment would be painful or āuncomfortableā and if she believes in a God and an afterlife that is better, wouldnāt the best choice be to let her go there? Let her be with her God?
I know it sounds terribly callous to phrase it as such, but Iām all for nudging people towards to door in such scenarios. Speaking for myself at this point in time and mindframe, absolutely Iād not want to be āpreservedā like some sort of science project just because itās medically possible.
Having kids, the telling question for me is āDo I still want to see my kids (and perhaps someday, grandkids)?ā Obviously that presumes Iāve still got enough juice left in the olā CPU that I can still recognize them and be aware of their presence. My folks arenāt there yet, but Iāve already seen it w/ my FiL and am starting to see it w/ my MiL ~ that they donāt even want to bother w/ the effort it takes to see my wife & kids anymore. Well then what else are you hanging on for? We even asked my MiL what she wanted to do for Motherās Day this weekendā¦ Her answer? Go see the plot where sheāll be buried next to wifeās stepdad (over a 2-hr drive each way). WTF?!? If thatās already your idea of a good way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon w/ your surviving family, then why the hell are we still going through all weāre going through to keep you from hurrying along to the exitsā¦?
Also knowing my mom and remembering how she handled it when her mom went (as well as when the time came for my other grandma on dadās side; my mom in a lot of ways seemed more connected than my emotionally calloused dad), Iām hopefully confident Iāll be able to let go as quickly and cleanly as possible. Sheās very much into family but also already into downsizing and letting go of a lot of things that used to be important; she seems very tuned into the cycle of things and at peace with being done at some point in the not too distant future (not in a hurry to get there, but also no sense of denying or delaying the inevitable). Again, her priority would be the surviving family ~ if/when she no longer has the capacity to want to still see us, sheād hate to have us still carry the burden of maintaining her physical vessel.
When my mother was in a similar situation (she had cancer, and full on dementia - body was fine, mind was gone) we did not give her chemo.
We did not want to prolong her life while making her more uncomfortable.
I donāt intend this to be an attack on religion. But if her mind is gone, treatment would be painful or āuncomfortableā and if she believes in a God and an afterlife that is better, wouldnāt the best choice be to let her go there? Let her be with her God?
I am always amazed by people who proclaim to believe in live everlasting/heavenā¦ hold on to this life with an iron grip when itās their time to go. Seems to me if you really believed in the hereafter youād be jumping for joy knowing you were going to meet your maker.
Wouldnāt the doctors help with this decision? When we took a seminar on wills and end of life documents it was said that just because you say something in your document the doctors have to look how sick you are. It you are not terminal, they will treat you for curable diseases like this. But near the end they may not treat it. The question for a medical person would be what are their criteria for honoring the patientās EOL requests.
Wouldnāt the doctors help with this decision? When we took a seminar on wills and end of life documents it was said that just because you say something in your document the doctors have to look how sick you are. It you are not terminal, they will treat you for curable diseases like this. But near the end they may not treat it. The question for a medical person would be what are their criteria for honoring the patientās EOL requests.
Even for Hospice patients - who are supposed to be assessed to be in the last 6 months or less of life -antibiotics seem to be a real grey area.
Set the gun on the table and leave the room.
Bit of a tangent, but couldnāt help but be reminded of it and this is as good a place as anyā¦
One of the most interesting stats that came out of the auditing reports from Oregonās landmark āright-to-dieā/assisted suicide law (whatever itās officially called) after it had gone into effect is that the number of people who signed up for the program (have to get separate independent diagnoses from multiple docs w/in 6mo or some such; donāt hold me to the details) was far greater than the number of patients whoāve actually went through w/ offing themselves ~ which turned out to be a surprisingly small number given how much people seemed to advocate for it. (I donāt mean people who signed up but still havenāt reached the end yet; the comparison was with participants who already died in ānormalā fashion anyway.)
The salient point seemed to be that many/most patients were comforted or satisfied enough just knowing that option was available to them should they choose, even though a majority found their way to not exercise that choice.