(December 27, 2014 at 2:15 pm)IATIA Wrote: My buddy went down for the count about 2 weeks ago. He was complaining of not feeling well over the weekend, but nothing out of the norm.
I talked to him Monday morning and he was on his way to take his Mother to the hospital for a checkup. Later that same day we chit-chatted about which movie we would be seeing the next weekend and other stuff.
Tuesday morning, I got a call from his niece that he had probably stroked out big time and was asking for me. I rushed over to the hospital, but he was in a coma by the time I got there.
The doctor was explaining to the niece and one of the relatives, on speakerphone, what the problems and prognosis were. Basically not good. Along with the stroke, was apparently a massive infection in his left shoulder and the doctor did not expect him to live.
After the doctor was finished with her discourse, I pulled her aside for a one on one to discuss options. She asked what his wishes would be and I explained that we had extensively discussed this over the many years of our friendship and my buddy would like the plug just pulled. The doctor said that she would consider my input as an objective friend that had more information on his wishes than the emotionally involved family members that had not discussed these type of situations. (They are a tight knit hispanic family and, of course, the "will of god" comes into play).
All would have been OK, as the doctor would have honored his wishes per my say so, but he woke up the next night and had to be sedated. Now the family was adamant that he should be saved.
He finally woke up and is no longer in ICU. His brain is fucked. He cannot swallow and probably will never be able to swallow again. His vision is dark and blurry. He remembers pieces of things, but thinks it is 1972. He does not remember things any longer that happened presently. He is aware of my presence and knows who I am, but does not remember that I was there yesterday. Talking with him is like talking to a 10 year old retard. It is unlikely that anything will improve.
Shoulda, coulda, woulda, but they did not pull the plug and because of rules, morality, god and other ridiculous reasons, he will be forced to be like this for the rest of his life. Without the stress inducing awareness, he may live another 10-20 years in this state, sucking up resources, and never be who he was. He died that first night and will never be resurrected.
It seems to me the question at the heart of this is how happy or unhappy is he?
MM
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
