Sunday, June 03, 2007

Things on my mind

I'm tired of being Debbie Downer and writing about my grandfather's illness, but it's pretty much all that's on my mind lately. It's pretty near impossible to think about anything else, so it's hard to write about anything else. I'm trying to get back to "normal," -- such as it is -- but circumstances aren't helping.

Today, my mother told me that one of my grandfather's doctors suggested that they just transfer him to a hospice and disconnect his feeding tube.

This is not the news I was expecting -- and I can't imagine that it was any different for the rest of the family. After all, he'd already gotten through the worst -- the head trauma -- when he woke up and started talking. Plus, he's over the latest infection, and his cancer and diabetes are both under control. But the doctors want to give up on him, and it seems mostly due to the fact that he's 83.

I don't get it. If he's willing to fight, why aren't his doctors?



5 comments:

E :) said...

In my experience, many doctors do not listen to their patients. The fact that they seem to have given up on your Grandpa is disgraceful.

DSL said...

So what does your mom say about your grandfather's condition? How does she think he's doing? I didn't realize he was still on a feeding tube. Is he able to communicate what he wants? This must be really hard on your grandmother.

dara said...

e:: -- The doctors aren't really communicating to each other, and each one says something different -- when they can be bothered to talk to the family. It's really unfortunate.

DSL: My mom doesn't know what to make of it. He's got some good signs -- like the fact that he's talking when he's awake -- but he's very tired, which interferes with his ability to do his therapy. He can communicate what he wants, which is usually food and water -- but he can't have anything until he has therapy to re-learn how to swallow.

And yes, this is really hard for my Nana. But remember: we went through a similar thing with her a couple of years ago.

DSL said...

Is it possible to have your grandfather's regular doctor try to talk to these doctors?

dara said...

A conference between all doctors has been requested, but the doctors haven't been entirely cooperative as of yet.