… and the best part, a stretcher in the hallway gets billed as a hospital room.
intercst
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What a horrible situation!
Not to judge anyone else…but…this article is educational.
I literally would not (and did not) subject a dog to this kind of treatment.
When I (or my husband) is terminally ill we will choose hospice. In the event of repeated ER-type emergencies we would choose death with dignity.
Wendy
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Our population is aging. Need for medical treatment increasing. You expect increasing number of patients. Hospitals should expanding. But costs continue to rise. And we object to spending more. Staffing shortages.
Hospitals delay expansion. Patients end up in beds in the hall.
What is the solution to this problem? Less health care? More money? More efficient (“AI”) health care?
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Less ill-thought out (i call it idiotically emotional and quasi-immoral) “end of life” mechanical/druggy pseudo-care, and much more actual family friends old fashioned care.
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Wendy,
We chose hospice for my Dad just after Christmas. The local Arlington/Cambridge help provided was very caring.
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@Leap1 I’m sorry to hear that your father is so ill. Is he still alive?
Wendy
@flyerboys sorry, this simply isn’t realistic. The author of the original article was a doctor herself. If anyone, she would know how to take care of a sick person. But even she brought her husband to the ER. Repeatedly.
The vast majority of families can’t take care of seriously ill people. It’s impossible for working people. Many women are “sandwiched” between taking care of children and somewhat disabled elders. Caregiving is a huge burden even if the dependent is somewhat able to care for themselves. It’s crushing if the dependent is incontinent or unable to get up or dress themselves. It’s simply impossible if the dependent is large and/or resistant or violent. Or having medical emergencies and/ or severe pain.
In “the old days” people died more quickly because the resources of modern medicine weren’t there. Nowadays when what you call ““end of life” mechanical/druggy pseudo-care” is available it’s a choice whether or not to use it. There’s a lot of blame involved in letting people suffer and die the old-fashioned way. That’s why the good people of hospice assist terminal patients to die with minimal pain.
Many people are not as lucky as your mother.
Wendy
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Wendy, I respect your opinion on this, BUT, i am also speaking from experience, from outside the frankly bizarre attitudes dominating USAian attitudes about death and dying, not only regarding professional medical care but also regarding how other societies hold death and dying as social and spiritual processes that are critically important and NOT compatible with “Do Everything Possible” (that is, possible within the often arbitrary rules and budgets of the heathcare industry). Because so many people (especially young gay men) were abandoned by their own families, I was often the sole person attending as the “family/friend person” for 100’s during the AIDS epidemic, and I learned a great deal from the dying and their circumstances. Death in the USA far too often is dominated by people avoiding realities, both physical and spiritual, and using insanely expensive methods to do so. Healthcare professionals are far too often bent by this, and cooperate with it, especially if the health managers find it profitable.
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Retire in Vietnam. Or Thailand.
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Wendy,
Dad fell backwards on Oct 11, slamming his head. He had a lot of bleeding around the brain. He had walking pneumonia. Other than that, we do not know why he fell.
It was touch-and-go several times over in the ICU. He was out of the hospital ICU in 18 days. He was in rehab for 21 days, if I have that right(he did a few days in stepdown and then in the hospital general ward). He was home on Dec. 19. I traveled to Boston for months every week for 2 to 3 days. After Christmas, he took a turn for the worse. He then took another turn for the worse after New Year’s Day. He died on January 10, three months to the day after his fall.
We are a close family. We are supporting each other. We miss him dearly. Dad had a great life. Did what he loved. Married who he loved. He was an unapologetically caring man.
As we get to a certain age, we are asked before each doctor’s appointment, “Are you falling”? My parents did not understand the significance of this question.
Dad had told only Mom and I he was falling. I was on him, asking him to join balancing classes, dance lessons, and Tai Chi. I should have told the rest of the family. They would have insisted he do something. Mom joked, “I’d love to take dance classes. Do you have a man for me to go with”? He had become an elderly 86-year-old.
Mom is well. It hurts. She is strong. Her mother died at age 98. Mom is in better shape at 86 than her mother was. JMO
Dad was in the Lahey Hospital, the best for neurology in the country. The ICU provided excellent care.
We had a memorial for Dad last Saturday. The Irish cousins came from Dublin, Wicklow, and Waterford. They smoked and drank, and told plenty of jokes. We had a great time. The last week has been very emotional for us. It has been hard.
We had 75 people for the memorial lunch. We did not have at least another 75 who would have loved to come. If it had been open, who knows how many people would have come. Dad touched so many lives. He helped countless numbers of people. He taught doctors. He organized within his speciality. He was a natural leader.
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@Leap1 please accept my sincere condolences for the loss of your beloved father. He was clearly much-loved by many.
Wendy
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@flyerboys I agree with you. I’m not disagreeing with you at all.
But modern high-tech end-of-life care is voluntary. If people wanted it but were refused there would be a great outcry. Few people have POLST paperwork signed and notarized to refuse end-of-life care. Few people in a family situation will deny a sick person care for fear of blame from other family members.
States that don’t have “death with dignity” laws because opponents fear a “slippery slope” where people are pressured to refuse medical care and accept euthanasia.
To rail against "“Do Everything Possible” care and expect dying people to rely on care from family/ friends (considering your angelic care is rare) simply isn’t compassionate or realistic in many cases.
Wendy
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Wendy,
Thank you for your warm condolences. People having been very caring. It is appreciated.
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