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I hear what you say, my dear Justsouno,
and sometimes question my own astuteness. Sometimes it's better to not get involved, although I admit that's hard for me. I will be posting something special on either Saturday or Sunday . . . so check back then! I just finished writing it a few minutes ago. . . .
posted by
JanesOpinion
on March 24, 2005 at 8:49 PM
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I really like your posts and have not seen much of you lately.
I have missed you. I haven't been on here as much lately. I really don't think I can address the issues of death or life by artificial means. I don't believe I am astute enough to make quality decisions. The other side of the coin is that I am not sure those astute enough are Godly enough to make the right decisions. So I hope those who have to make such decisions will pray and leave it in his hands expecting whatever is done will be according to His wishes. I loved the post with all the information regarding the Netherlands. Some, unfortunately do not care one whit about those in their care. It is easy to see you are not one of those.
posted by
Justi
on March 24, 2005 at 8:36 PM
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Ha! Ukie,
occasionally, when the doc inserts a central line, instead of threading into the superior vena cava and into the right atrium, it inadvertently goes up the jugular veins to the brain. Ooooops! So maybe the way to a man's heart is through his stomach via the brain? Eee gads.
posted by
JanesOpinion
on March 24, 2005 at 6:45 PM
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Yeah Justso, that is so often the case.
You bring an elderly person in for something that perhaps they could live with. . . . and they're never quite the same. In this dear old man's situation, he had cancer metastasis all over, and prior to the surgery his quality of life was quite good, so I think they felt that perhaps they could buy him some time by removing the major tumors. You've made an excellent point though. So often we put our elderly folk through major surgery and they're never the same again. Perhaps they'd have been better off being made comfortable until the end. But still . . . I've found that the will to live is so strong -- even at 95+.
posted by
JanesOpinion
on March 24, 2005 at 6:19 PM
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I have heard the way to a
man's heart is his stomach....perhaps it is actually the brain...
posted by
QuailNest
on March 24, 2005 at 2:37 PM
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I personally am against non death threatening surgery for people that old
My father was 85 and he fell. Long story short when we had stitches out he had a complete exam by our family physician. He opted to send him to a specialist and he wound up having surgery for nine hours and was never well again. This was non cancerous prostate! I have lots of regrets about that because I could have talked him out of it I think.
posted by
Justi
on March 24, 2005 at 2:29 PM
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Yeah, poor guy,
he forgot the anatomy lectures he may have had about 80 years ago.
posted by
JanesOpinion
on March 23, 2005 at 8:49 PM
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He must not have taken or passed biology in school, Jane.
posted by
word.smith
on March 23, 2005 at 8:25 PM
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What do you think, Taps,
should that be one of the things nursing students have to experiment on each other? Inserting NG tubes? Not? OK. Yeah, I cannot imagine having the thing for that long. Not fun! Of course, when the person is vented, and also has a tube, it really is gross because the pt often develops sinusitis Yuck. Glad for you this was only a one time event and a long time ago. Thanks for stopping by!
posted by
JanesOpinion
on March 23, 2005 at 7:48 PM
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JanesO - I had one of those horrors years before I was a nurse. It was gross going in and gross coming out. I gagged for the four or five days that I had it. I always hated having to insert, remove or maintain the things in my patients because it brought back those awful memories.
posted by
TAPS.
on March 23, 2005 at 6:43 PM
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