as much as i find the 'end of life' counseling brought to you and paid for by big brother (elective of course) repulsive, what i find most appalling and emblematic of the state-ist command and control mindset is that this is a so called service to be performed which now has a FEE (incentive) generated by the provider...
i had the unfortunate responsibility (along with my husband) to participate in an end of life counseling session as my FIL was fighting cancer in his late 70's...he had surgery, chemo, and the treatment was not successful, we had to take him to the emergency room at least 3 times for pain, toward the end of his care, which was approximately 2 years from the time of diagnosis, treatment, and eventually his death
....during the last visit, we had a meeting with his oncologist (a very fine doctor) who told us that he felt he needed to discuss palliative hospice care for my FIL and wanted our understanding of this and support...we discussed it with him, getting our assurance that this was the best option then we proposed this option to my FIL...
this was a heartbreakingly sad, and highly personal moment for my FIL....he was completely lucid and fully aware of his condition, but he was a 'fighter', he had a wife who was in the early stages of alzheimers, a loving family, and was active, had many interests that kept him vital....
i'll never forget his reaction, the doctor took the lead, stood there and quietly and calmly explained why he felt palliative care was his best option....my FIL looked at him, then looked at his son, then at me and said "I knew this would happen eventually, but to me hospice means I'm giving up and nothing else can be done" (after which much re-assurance by his doctor and his children ensued)
well just imagine at the moment in time, having some state appointed 'counselor' inserting themselves in that most private and intimate and sad time of a person's life that really should be handled by family and physician....the creep factor here is just off the chart....thanks, but no thanks
oh and btw....
his oncologist didn't put an additional FEE on his billing statement for 'end of life counseling'....he just did what he felt was in the best interest of his patient and their family, giving them the options and allowing them to decide accordingly
the only fees associated with it were his normal charge for his emergency room visit...and thankfully no gov't 'highly trained' personnel were involved...(thinking about the intransigent bureaucrat in the hospital scene when grandpa is pronounced dead in the move 'little miss sunshine' <ng>) |
