Barbara Bush in failing health. Only recieving comfort care now.

[c172]

https://twitter.com/CBCAlerts/status/985581684451049484

[Chad32]

Well, I hope she fades away peacefully. I'm sure spending all your time in hospitals isn't really fun for anyone.

[vorlon13]

She was noted to be reading the Kitty Kelly book dissing Nancy Reagan on an airline flight, but Barbara Bush had carefully replaced to dust jacket to camouflage it, and still got caught.

Always got a chuckle from that.

[chimp3]

I hope she has no pain or anxiety!

[The Valkyrie]

Why, baby Jesus?

WHY??

She has an idiot husband and sons.

Why not take them??

Or Tump.

Tell you what; you can have Trump, Pence, and the various Bushes. Just give us back Bowie!

[Brian37]

Word is out from family that she is NOT seeking any more medical treatment and has chosen DNR and only comfort care in her decline.

Having had watched my own mother make that same decision not to do anything further, I cannot stress enough, there are some things BEYOND politics or class.

I certainly hate GOP economics. But while she has recently said in the past years she's hated the tone of politics and wanted government to get back to "compromise". I'd only, in her lucid state, would have argued the history of balance of power since Reagan between the parties as a collective average.

NOW, that is STILL a separate issue than being able to identify caring for an elderly person, and watching them decline and die. 

I do give theists and the economic right a hard time at this point in history, because their politics of division and "otherism" misses the point that we as a SPECIES are more alike than we are different.

I would prefer CL and Mystic and A Theist could see why they don't need a god or a religion. BUT I do know that nobody goes through life without having someone close to them get ill or die, be they family, parents or even friends. It will happen to everyone to some degree. Point is nobody lives forever and and we all will feel loss. I may give the theists here a hard time about their logic, but I still would not wish that pain on anyone, having watched my own mother die. 

I may hate GOP economics, but I do know what the Bush family is going through right now and what they will face when Barbra dies.

Moderator Notice
went ahead and combined with existing thread, no problem, carry on

V

[Minimalist]

Hospice does a real good job.  There comes a point where the cure is worse than the disease especially since there is no "cure."  Kudos to her for making a courageous decision.

[Brian37]

Hospice does a real good job.  There comes a point where the cure is worse than the disease especially since there is no "cure."  Kudos to her for making a courageous decision.

Barbra is very courageous making that choice. Doctors can and do often say, "we might be able to do this or that" but even then, age can get to the point even if they can do something, the quality of life for that person becomes an issue. 

Having seen it myself, I have all the empathy in the world for the Bush family. Ultimately only they can make that choice and as family it is up to us to support what they wish. 

There is no polite way to put the following. Every single person in the world who doesn't die quickly say from an accident, or crime, who reaches old age, will have to face their own mortality and make those comfort/quality issues. The only thing family can do at that point is to let them make their own decisions and be their for them and comfort them.

[Minimalist]

Well said, Brian, but it is also necessary to face up to the reality that dementia can interfere with the ability of a person to make that decision.  That's why a Living Will is so important to make your desires known while you are still mentally competent enough to state them.

[Brian37]

Well said, Brian, but it is also necessary to face up to the reality that dementia can interfere with the ability of a person to make that decision.  That's why a Living Will is so important to make your desires known while you are still mentally competent enough to state them.

My mom was fully lucid when she made that final decision. I agree though, it is about preparation. 

She had with prior surgeries for other things  said that she wasn't going to do anything again. As much as it hurt me, that last time, considering what she said before and her age, I completely understood.. 

Even in a lucid state, at that age, I can fully understand why anyone would say to themselves " Yea, I could try, but what is my quality going to be like?"

I think even after that last decision by her,  she hung on, just to give me comfort. I know she was ultimately saying to me, "I love you Brian, I can't stick around, but I love you."