Patients spending more on last-ditch treatments in final days
The doctors finally let Rosaria Vandenberg go home.
For the first time in months, she was able to touch her 2-year-old daughter who had been afraid of the tubes and machines in the hospital. The little girl climbed up onto her mother's bed, surrounded by family photos, toys and the comfort of home. They shared one last tender moment together before Vandenberg slipped back into unconsciousness.
Vandenberg, 32, died the next day.
That precious time at home could have come sooner if the family had known how to talk about alternatives to aggressive treatment, said Vandenberg's sister-in-law, Alexandra Drane.
Instead, Vandenberg, a pharmacist in Franklin, Mass., had endured two surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation for an incurable brain tumor before she died in July 2004.
"We would have had a very different discussion about that second surgery and chemotherapy. We might have just taken her home and stuck her in a beautiful chair outside under the sun and let her gorgeous little daughter play around her — not just torture her" in the hospital, Drane said.
Americans increasingly are treated to death, spending more time in hospitals in their final days, trying last-ditch treatments that often buy only weeks of time, and racking up bills that have made medical care a leading cause of bankruptcies.
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8 comments:
oh but I thought all that voluntary end of life counseling was about "death panels"
the race for your inheritence
I dont want to live forever, Im tired now.
I worked wish cancer patients for a few years , the treatments are given because medicare and insurance pay for it. The oncologist(doctor) knows that the patient will pass away soon , it's all about the money. I must be a difficult thing to tell a patient they will die soon.
americans LOVE their drugs. even the simple skit that says - "doctor it hurts when i do this." doctor replies, "then dont do that." has turned into "we need to rush you into x-ray, prescribe 20 different pain meds, a rehab stint, 6 hours/day of strecthing, psycho meds for the emotional distress, and we'll reschedule in 4 days to update your records and check your status."
We allowed my mother to be placed in hospice. She wore her own clothes. She had no tubes coming out of her body. We could be with her anytime we wanted. We polished her fingernails and toenails. She said, "Thank you." Then she closed her eyes and left us. All deaths should be that peaceful and beautiful.
@1125am
I completely agree! Don't forget, they're going to call the pharmacy and tell them they lost all the meds and they need them all refilled again!
I am all for treatment for a young person who can regain cells fast after all cells are zapped. But to put an elderly person through that to extend life a few months is crazy. My grandparents both went through treatments at the same time and died within a few months after the treatment. After what I saw them go through while taking them to treatments and taking care of them, I would never put another elderly person through that. Doctor's give false hope by putting them through the treatments. Their prolonged life is so painful at times, that they have no quality of life at all. Let them die with grace naturally.
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