Hopefully, it will prompt them to fill out advanced directives. Then, they won't have to fight at your bedside...should we or shouldn't we? He's rotting, but his heart is still going. His EEG has been flat for a week, He wouldn't want it. Mom thinks I say grrr.
Why Doctors Die Differently Careers in medicine have taught them the limits of treatment and the need to plan for the end
Years ago, Charlie, a highly respected orthopedist and a mentor of mine, found a lump in his stomach. It was diagnosed as pancreatic cancer by one of the best surgeons in the country, who had developed a procedure that could triple a patient's five-year-survival odds—from 5% to 15%—albeit with a poor quality of life.
 Arthur Giron
What's unusual about doctors is not how much treatment they get compared with most Americans, but how little.
Charlie, 68 years old, was uninterested. He went home the next day, closed his practice and never set foot in a hospital again. He focused on spending time with his family. Several months later, he died at home. He got no chemotherapy, radiation or surgical treatment. Medicare didn't spend much on him.
online.wsj.com |
