Sunday, 03 May 2009

• Currently American Girl By Tom Petty see related

  I hope I die before I get old...

  The other day I had a non emergent call to take a woman from the hospital to a nursing home.  That's pretty typical...but this poor lady was in such bad shape she literally could barely move.  She couldn't...or wouldn't...say anything to me other than "help me".

  Before leaving the hospital I specifically asked if she had any family with her.  They told me no.  (I always ask in case the family member needs to ride with us.)  As we were loading her into the ambulance a man and woman ran up to us from the parking lot.  "Hey where you taking her?!"  I just looked at him because I was a bit stunned... and then he said "That's so and so right?"  I told him yes.  He said she was his mother.  I asked him if the hospital told him they were moving her.  He said no. 

  He walked off and a nurse overheard the conversation and said to me "You know, I work up on that floor and sometimes people aren't allowed to know things...it's not like we just forget to tell family members when patients are being sent somewhere..."

  We pulled out and the couple followed us...

  I read the doctor's report on the patient.  It didn't say anything about how or why she was taken to the hospital, but to make a really long story short...  She's dying.  She also can't swallow anything so she is suffering horribly from hunger and thirst.  Everytime they try to give her something to drink, she either aspirates it or spits it out.  Now, this is what I don't understand.  She has some dementia, but according to the report, she is still capable of making her own medical decisions at this point.  They asked her if she wanted a feeding tube.  At first she said no, but after getting worse and worse she finally begged (yes, the report said begged) them to do it. 

  But apparently she is taken care of by the state and they don't want her to have it done. 

  So here I am with this patient and she is begging me to help her.  But there isn't a damn thing I can do.  The state could allow her to have the feeding tube, which would at least help relieve the horrible thirst, but no...I guess they prefer to make people suffer.  I understand that perhaps since she is dying they just don't want to prolong her suffering...but that still isn't right!  One of the things I'm known for saying frequently is "I hope I die before I get old." and I really do.  I hope I die before I'm so helpless that I end up being taken care of by the state and no one will respect my wishes.

  This lady doesn't have long to live anyway.  I hope she dies as peacefully as possible...

  And as for the son...they followed us to the nursing home.  I told the staff about what the hospital nurse said and they didn't seem to care so I never figured out what that was all about.

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