from sister #2:
The doctors say Grandma has 3-6 months left. She will be in the hospital for the duration of her radiation treatment. They were going to transport her back and forth from the nursing home but they don’t think she can handle it so they are keeping her there until they finish the treatment. Besides the aneurysm on her heart she has one in her abdomen.
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Bummer.
Even more bummer is the part they left out, they never want to tell you that they mean (Now-6 months).
If they give her such short odds, what do they expect to accomplish with the radiation treatment? That’s (rads) is a pretty tough trail to have to walk for your last few weeks–what is it going to do for her that’s worth the pain? Doesn’t sound like it’ll extend her life much (if any) and it will definitely not be a nice experiance!
(nosy, nosy opinionated-that’s me…)
from what i can decipher, the radiation will shrink the tumors that are eating at her spine and causing the most pain– i think. but i can’t be sure.
Pain relief is good.
Be inquisitive. Question everything, medics make mistakes as often as everyone else, and questioning them properly forces them to reassess their judgement additional times, and this is usually a good thing. As are multiple opinions.
In this case though, seems no matter what they do she has a high probability of dying sooner than later…are the additional side-effects of radiation treatment better or worse than those of other pain-treatments?
And, ugly as it is, there is the matter of costs….quality of life is personal to her, but costs (monetary, emotional, stress) are assessed against the entire family. Of course, all depends upon your family’s views on death. (As an agnostic/wiccan/humanist/universalist, I’m confused about it myself.)
Despite everything, there is a cost/benefit ratio to determine….this does not reduce the survivors love for their departed, but it may make the difference between survival of your family line (well, that _sounds_ pretty harsh & dramatic chuck…yes, it is dramatic, but it is also a true thing. You can bankrupt and destroy yourself with grief (usually by leting it fester–do not fester, to fester is bad.)
Not that I think you are in danger, I just like to preach and cannot pass up a soap box, darn it.
I’ve got nothing clever to say….
I feel bad for you Jodi.
my mom chose to leave the hospital and wait it out at home, we had morphine on hand for pain, can you imagine how worried she was that she’d become addicted? we had a hospice worker that would come and help out, she was so wonderful, she has chosen a really special way of serving others. hope you all find similar support.