I'm sorry for you and your family. To answer your question a "stomach feeding tube" is a dangerous procedure in someone who has ascites. In fact it is contraindicated. A uncontrollable infection will be the result.

 

My prayers are with you and your family.

 

dbelleperc,

If your uncle is responsive, what are his wishes? They should be followed.

I lost my best friend of thirty-four plus years on June 16th of this year. Mike made me his power of attorney. He told me his wishes prior to being put on a breathing machine and tube feeder. I am the one who had to remove him from his breathing machine along with the feeding tube. It was the worst thing I have ever had to do in my life. I just thank God he was responsive. I was able to explain his situation to him and he was able to convey to me what he wanted. After he nodded yes or no to my questions, his eyes welled up with tears and so did mine. I had the support removed and he died peacefully three days later. On my birthday of all things. I was gratefull, that with the morphine drip, Mike died peacefully without pain. I know that because I was with him constantly for his last three days. If it is really your uncle's time, you don't want him to suffer. However, again, it should be his choice. The only thing I question is how they could give him morphine drip at home. The morphine shots or the morphine by mouth is no where near as effective if you have to die.

Your uncle will be in my prayers.

 

Thanks Spike, Jamy, and Chad.

I know my uncle's wishes and can understand your friend's Mike's.

 

This is quite the emotional thread which I think many of us can relate to. My prayers are with your uncle, and I wish him the best.

 

dbelleperc,

I am deeply saddened by what you are experiencing and my prayers are with you, your family and your Uncle.

I'm not sure if it will be if much help at this point, but I couldn't help notice that your Uncle is a veteran. As a veteran he is entitled to certain benefits that you may not be aware of and some information can be found at www.va.gov.

Do you know if your Uncle was deployed to Vietnam? If so, it is fairly well documented that there is some relationship between certain cancers (prostate cancer being one) and Agent Orange exposure.

 

Without knowing many of the intricate details of your Uncle's actual diagnosis, let me make a few general comments.

Firstly, it seems to me that your Uncle has a very poor prognosis. Somehow this has not been effectively conveyed to you by your doctors. It seems to me that you and your family hold out hope for a cure, while your doctors have decided to try to make him as comfortable as possible. Since this is not a curative solution, you are understandably angry and frustrated. I can only say the following as a physician. We are sometimes faced with situations that have no satisfactory outcome. In this situation, doctors try to make the patient as comfortable as possible.

I suggest you ask your doctors what is chances are and then base his care on that. That is, if there is a chance for recovery and this is not a terminal illness, by all means pursue every available source of treatment. If his prognosis and chances are very slight, concentrate on making him comfortable and ensuring a dignified end. I suggest that hospital Hospice services be contacted if the sad latter case is true. They can arrange for home morphine drips and adequate pain control.

I wish you and your family all the best, especially your Uncle.

 

Thanks Ruf, yes I know that his condition is terminal, and yes we have contacted hospice, but the Illegal next to us in the room is getting great treatment. I know that everyone reading this threat can't believe what some of the doctors said but yes it is true, I am just pissed that they don't respect my uncle's wishes and just want to get it over with ASAP, hell they wanted to discharge him today. My uncle is still able to communicate to us, it is not that well of communication but it is communication and it is more than the doctors are communication with us. That is what is making me really pissed off at the hospital staff at Sharp.

My mom works in the medical insurance busness and every doctor that comes to the room we get their name and see what their state records are, and some of them are not that great. Like the doc that wanted to kill my uncle, he is known to do that **** and the nurse's hate him. He yells at the family's, nurse's, and patient's that he treats and that is what he did to us and we are not going to put up with that crap.

Thanks again for the info from everyone it is about 200% more info than we can get from the inconpetent morons that we deal with.

 

Well we got the call this morning at about 3:00 and said that he is not doing so good, so I grabbed my mom and hopped in the car and haul a$$ to the hospital and made it there just in time to say our last goodbye's before he passed away at 3:35 this morning. He was holding on until my aunt, mom, and myself got there. "Semper Fi" Uncle Bill.

 

I'm very sorry for your loss and for the struggle you had through all this. Try to keep your head up.

 

We all have to leave this life and meet our maker sometime. It is fortunate for your uncle to have been able to complete this final task surrounded by those he loved and those who loved him. This is never easy when it involves someone you really care about. Carry on as you know your uncle would want and expect. Make him proud.

Again, you and your loved ones will be in our prayers.

 

I too lost a two relatives to slow, degenerative ailments. It didn't make the loss more bearable to any of us.

My condolences...God Bless. You should take some solace in the fact that you fought so hard to give him the very best care. We should all have relatives that care so much.

 

dbelleperc,

My family and I went through similar painful ordeals with the passing of my aunt and dad several years ago. We had always felt the hospital could do more. In the end, there was only one inevitable outcome. I think what both of them, and your uncle, wanted is a peaceful gathering of their loved ones by their side. Nothing else matters more. You've given him that last pleasure.

Tell your aunt and mom, but especially your aunt (if she's your uncle's widow), that they have these Porsche Nuts' deepest condolences and prayers in their hearts. You included.

If there was some non-profit cause/org that your uncle had cared for, feel free to post them.

collin

 

god bless you and your family, dbelleperc, sometimes life isn't that much fun, but the character shows through in how you deal with those times. Anyone can handle the happy times. Good Luck.

 

dbelleperc, our prayers are with you and your family. My sincerest condolences.