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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Sorry you are going through this.  Do you mean it is clear that your aunt will not eat or drink on her own again?[/quote]

Yes she has failed a swallow test and is not permitted liquids or food.[/quote]

Let me get this straight:  she failed a swallow test, so to prevent aspiration they want her to consume nothing by mouth, but it’s OK to starve/dehydrate her to death as long as they pump her full of narcotics.

That’s not “death with dignity.”  It’s active killing.

And the idea that a person near the end of life should not get treatment for an infection (which has a palliative effect in addition to being potentially curative) borders on sadistic.

Hospice used to be a good idea when it was in the nature of a social movement. Now it’s a business and a pretty macabre one at that. [/quote]

Believe me this is  very difficult .  The infections (multiple) are not considered curable without surgery which she is not strong enough for. Even beyond the infections she has
a progressive incurable disease and dementia.[/quote]

I empathize and I understand the difficulty, having been down a similar road. The point about antibiotics is that the bad hospices sometimes withhold them automatically.  That is a disservice to the patient. Sometimes even antibiotics that are not going to cure infections can reduce how lousy the infection makes the person feel. That may or may not be the case for your person, but it deserves consideration.  Denying even artificial hydration/nutrition in favor of medically induced insensibility is a separate issue. It is one thing for a patient or their surrogate to make a considered decision about this, weighing all the alternatives. It is quite another for a single swallow test to doom a person.

The value of a human life transcends even the individual patient. Too often, the temptation is to put the patient out of “our” misery, not theirs. I’m not suggesting that this is your motive. I do question whether you are getting the best medical [b]and spiritual [/b]advice. [/quote]

Ah, that’s what I thought.  :roll: [/quote]

Exactly. Someone has a "pro-life" ax to grind. And the quotes are because this person in all likelihood favors quantity, not quality, of life, and believes it should only be God's will when someone dies. This person probably sees absolutely no inconsistency between their belief in a kind, loving God and their belief that people should not be allowed to choose how and when they want to die, no matter the terrible suffering they're experiencing. This person also probably has selective beliefs about modern medicine and God's will -- i.e., it's God's will to administer antibiotics, never to withhold them. It's God's will to administer morphine to alleviate pain, but God forbid it should be enough to end pain and suffering altogether.

I'm so over your "spiritual" BS. Go preach somewhere else.[/quote]

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