Okay, my grandmother has Lewey Body Dementia. She's been pretty wacked
out for years - very little quality of life. One of the side effects
of it is that she'll eventually lose the ability to swallow. She's
just about there - she has nearly no ability to swallow. Last week she
ended up in the
the
feeding tube.
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-Original Message-
From: Deanna Schneider [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 11:30 AM
To: CF-Community
Subject: Real Life Ethics (or the Schiavo Case Comes Home, sort
Yes, that's the problem. I don't suppose she expressed her wishes
beforehand? I have very mixed feelings about this. I had a grandmother
who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's though she eventually died of a
stroke so.. perhaps they were wrong. However the point is that there
was quite a bit of
To my knowledge, she did not express what her wishes were before she
was too far gone to ask. My father has been her legal guardian for at
least 5 years.
My mom said that the doctor's are telling her that it won't be a
painful way to go, as she won't notice that she's thirsty/hungry. (I
don't
Doh! I was spelling it wrong. It's Lewy Body Dementia, and here's a good primer:
http://www.smw.ch/pdf200x/2003/09/smw-10028.pdf
~|
Sams Teach Yourself Regular Expressions in 10 Minutes by Ben Forta
See this is one of the grey areas of the ethics and the law. It
really does sound like the sooner the better for all concerned, but
they can't sedate her because that would kill her, even though they
are withholding food. I actually don't think the doctors would tell
your parents that unless they
Yah, that's why we were bummed that she ended up in the hospital.
UTI's don't cause her any pain (weird, I know, but supposedly true).
And, UTI is often the way female dementia patients go. My parents
weren't around when the nursing home called, so they called my aunt,
who authorized the transport
Deanna,
Oh that is hard. I really feel for what you're going through. We had
to make a similar decision with my father 10 years ago after he
suffered a massive stroke. While he never expressed such to me
directly, we all knew he would not want to be in such a situation. I
do not think I have a
Deanna wrote:
Would you do it? Or, would you do the feeding tube? Discuss.
Getting old can be so undignified. In this case it sounds like she's
led a full life and certainly has an intelligent granddaughter, which
is probably an indication that she raised good kids. Living a long,
full,
Well, the good news is that the link you posted said it's probably not
hereditary. I know that heredity was a particular worry in our family.
Dana
On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 13:50:52 -0500, Larry C. Lyons
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Deanna,
Oh that is hard. I really feel for what you're going
I think the heriditary issue is still somewhat up for debate, as other
docs have told us that it is and that we should watch my dad and aunt
for symptoms. My aunt is showing some signs. I'm not seeing it as much
in my dad. But, my aunt is the older of the two. I know his wishes -
brought out to a
Hm Well, actually, she was always a bear of a human being. She
never (at least in her adult life) had many friends. She was always
extremely judgemental and difficult to be around. She was always
paranoid - people were stealing her husband, we were conspiring
against her, blah blah blah. I
Alzheimer's is supposed to be hereditary. But since my grandmother
actually died of a stroke and Alzheimer's was the diagnosis of last
resort then I'm thinking maybe she had a blood clot which would have
been treatable today. It's a theory. So far no symptoms in her
children
On Mon, 31 Jan 2005
mmm all the strong feelings were in favor of withholding as I recall
and in this instance I think withholding is really the more
compassionate way to go.
Dana
On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 13:32:41 -0600, Deanna Schneider
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Hm Well, actually, she was always a bear of a human
Deanna wrote:
I know his wishes - brought out to a field and shot. ;)
My father-in-law says he'll wander off into the woods or if can't he
says we should drop him off in the UP Triangle which is, I guess, an
area of upper Michigan where people mysteriously disappear never to be
seen again.
Seriously though a friend of mine had a horrible time with her mother,
who developed a brain tumor. She was quite irrational and refused all
treatment until she was critical. Then she would get hysterical and
want to be saved. She didn't want to be sick but was scared of
surgery. The doctors
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