tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9263167.post5664820295609327319..comments2024-03-18T12:22:54.723-04:00Comments on Stayin' Alive: Distinction with a differenceCervanteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11302076828795198187noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9263167.post-59808457116440799612009-09-10T11:48:19.386-04:002009-09-10T11:48:19.386-04:00you have such a great point about considering the ...you have such a great point about considering the value of interventions in light of where the person is overall, rather than always pressing for "teh best" intervention.<br /><br />a doctor friend of mine was livid when his father's cardiologist was pressing for extensive heart surgery. "he's 88 years old and not healthy. why subject him to the trauma of surgery, which he might not even survive?" <br /><br />when my grandmother's hip repair broke through her fragile bones, a hip replacement was suggested. she had dementia, and was absolutely opposed to a hip replacement because someone, she couldn't quite remember who, had trouble after his. i could have overridden her wishes, but the fact is that she had not cooperated with PT for the hip repair and had no interest in walking any more. [by "not cooperating," i mean she occasionally tried a few steps at the beginnning, but mostly she screamed at the PT until therapy was abandoned after a couple of months.]<br /><br />so, the plate and screws were removed to relieve her pain -- it was an uncomfortable decision because it removed the possibility of her walking again, but her mental state was not, you know, improving. the more extensive surgery and doomed-to-fail efforts at PT would have been awful.kathy a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14479337952651746193noreply@blogger.com