Comments on: The Cost of Dying
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- It will be a bitter pill for some but some practices will have to be abandoned.. vegetative people with feeding tubes attached that have rung up millions in charges or an aging person who checks into a hospital and then finds they have been 'visited' by numerous specialists who come in just to 'touch' the patient so they can add a charge to the bill.. all while some relatively healthy people can't get a fractured bone set.. its gotten so out of whack it may collapse.. then everybody loses..
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- I really think you need to do a segment on Hospice as opposed to extreme medical measures to keep an elderly (or younger) person alive. It would allow people to understand Hospice and to let people know what wonderful things they can do to allow Dignity at the End of Life.
My dad was put into Hospice last January, having been diagnosed with three types of cancer. Surprisingly, he is still with us. He has a "Comfort One" form he keeps in his apartment. It tells EMTs to not perform CPR or take any extreme measures if they are called. Mostly they have been called when he has fallen. He has then been checked out to make sure there are no broken bones and has mostly been able to come home to his apartment again.
My Mom was diagnosed with liver cancer at the end of June and died the end of August. During that time she was able to have her family around her and, until the last two weeks of her life, she enjoyed living life as she liked. The last two weeks we were able to keep her in her own apartment with minimal help for the nighttime shift. She was kept comfortable, and passed away calmly in the middle of the night in her own bed.
I can't say enough about Hospice and how wonderful they are. - Reply to this comment
- I wish people did not look at this from the family's perspective only. The doctors and hospital have responsibility as well. I watched the segment and felt as if you knew my family. My mother fell at home in April, went to rehab and was due to be released. A week before her release, she was found on the floor. Subsequently she was taken to a well know hospital, admitted into SICU. All her records noted there was DNR, living will, health care proxy etc. Not only did she have medicare, but supplimental insurance as well =btb, she was 90, had worked since she was 16, thus her medicare is what she paid into (she retired in her 80's)taking nothing that she did not pay into! 3 days in, she was moved to a surgical floor, in the middle of the night I heard my cellphone. Unfortunately, I did not get to it in time, the callback was restricted. The hospital had 5 other numbers for my family The next morn, we learned that she was back in SICU and intibated. Not only were we upset, but so was she.We have a strong belief that without quality of life, you have nothing. Moreover, her wishes were not honored. 2 days after the tubes were removed, she passed -both the first time and when she passed, she had distressed breathing. She was to be moved to pallitive care, but given she lived on her terms, she passed the same way. It was hard watching her suffering, she had not lost her mind, her body failed her though! Imagine having tubes you do not want in you because some doctor thought it was in her best interest,my belief, they did not properly read her chart.
So congrats to one of the best segments. perhaps because we called it "mom's story".
And for those of you who believe that watching her suffer was "trendy", my family have other thoughts- - Reply to this comment
- I would appreciate the viewpoints of other health-care providers on a correlation I see all the time in my work: Education and income seem to be inversely related with the quantity of end-of-life care requested. It's empowering, I think, for people who have so little, and feel so alienated within the health-care system, to be able to direct so many health-care resources toward themselves and their families simply by requesting them. At the opposite end, those (and their families) who better understand what extreme measures cost seem much more accepting (in many cases even demanding) of advice about when to stop.
That's not so say rich people are less demanding of the health-care system. They are just more likely to demand treatment by providers they perceive, based on reputation alone, to be of higher quality, without any regard to outcomes data. - Reply to this comment
- This is a critically important topic that has so rarely recieved open attention. The Physicians did an outstanding job of presenting the material. A vital concept is individual accountability. It remains too easy to say "Do everything" because there is not cost. It is economics 101- if cost is ZERO demand is INFINITE. It helped to bankrupt GM and will bankrupt our country. We must move from DNR-do not recusitate to AND - allow natural death.
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- Having lost both parents within the last 15 months, I can say that asking a family member in a fragile emotional state to make end of life decisions does not result in rational decision making; even with a living well. A caring and compassionate nurse practitioner took my hand, looked me in the eye and said, "I think it is time to call hospice." It is human nature to want to "fix" everything, to fight every battle to win. All of us, family members and medical personnel alike have to adjust our ways of thinking and come to the realization that a death with dignity when "it is time" is preferable.
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- by justsane-2009 November 24, 2009 12:30 AM EST
eloquently stated in response to mcapek. Might I add, that my family was given these same odds for my then 72 year old grandmother and we chose to provide comfort in her last days in respect of her wishes and in honoring her life with dignity and selflessness. - Reply to this comment
- Thank you CBS for the courage to bring this story into our living rooms. I am a registered nurse, and can assure you that the great majority of doctors do not have end of life discussions with patients and families. They may chart in their progress notes that they have, but conversations with the family and the patients will indicate otherwise. Nurses are left with the heart-breaking responsibility of caring for the patient and family when we know there is no hope, yet the very person and their loved ones who need to know, don't. One of a nurse's most important professional roles is being an advocate for the patient. Compromising that weighs heavily on my heart when I fail the patient at the end of their life by being unable to make this last part of their earthly journey what it should be.... surrounded by your loved ones, physically comfortable and supported emotionally and spiritually. I returned to the "curative" care environment from hospice care, and I can't wait to get back to being a hospice nurse where I knew my work each day brought comfort to my patients. Everyone should take the time to have conversations with their spouses, parents, grandparents, children... LONG BEFORE it's medically necessary about our wishes at the end of our lives. If you know your loved ones wishes, especially if they are in writing, HONOR THEM. It is the most loving, courageous thing you will ever be asked to do, but the grace of a compassionate, comfortable passing is a great gift.
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- As a medical staff chaplain, I encourage call my patients and their family members to talk openly about end of life issues. I encourage them to fill out a POA for their future health care wishes. Sad to say, many elderly patients desire to enter eternity; but their children don't want to let them go for one reason or another.
So the question is: Do we prolong living or suffering and the dying process? One's faith does play an active role in the end of life discussions. - Reply to this comment
- the wolves are at the door and everyone seems to have a plan for someone else to play or a law that requires treatment because of legal or religious reasons.. its a big mess that will only get bigger.. the bank is going to bust.. one way or another.. its going to be ugly for sure..
and there's no way out.. that's the most sicking part.. - Reply to this comment
