A patient whom I've been treating for months in the intensive care has finally passed on today. I know it was not what she had intended. She had a strong will to live even though the odds were against her. She continued to cling on the hope that she might return home one day to be with her family...but I guess her body would not allow her to fight any longer.
It may sound insensitive but I am actually happy for her.
In medicine, sometimes it's not just about saving lives - we need to look at QOL, the insurmountable costs of sustaining someone on a ventilator for the rest of his/her life...and then there's the issue of carer stress - how could we expect the family to provide the 24 hr care that she required?
There would be no happy ending to her returning home.
Sometimes we just have got to be realistic and let go...
4 comments:
In a way it is.. and i know where you are coming from with that theory... but it is very hard to let go .. of those ppl you are leaving behind.. i would think. I would anyways.. :(
She had a daughter whose 21st b'day is just around the corner which made it even harder for her to let go. But she was suffering for a long time and it was emotionally very difficult for everyone...
I feel so sad reading your entry :(
Life is always not easy. And when it comes to death, it is those who are left behind that'd suffer more.
I've often wondered if I would react any differently if I were in her shoes...Truth is, I really don't know...
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