Is there a way to predict how close to death a geriatric patient w/aspiration pneumonia & tachycardia may be? - death by aspiration pneumonia
My father, 75, was in a nursing home a year after a stroke and dementia. It is has improved recently, he was able to eat and too much sense, but is now back on a feeding tube, catheter and was in hospital for pneumonia and blood poisoning d unknown origin. The infection cleared up, and was good enough to be discharged in the hospital to go home. But now it seems that the aspirations of many of their food, unable to swallow or cough well, and we just try blankly to contact him. We can not say if it hurts or not. He sleeps a lot. It's difficult. Unfortunately, my brothers and I live in a different city, is the mother alone with him regularly. Today I looked, and had a slight fever. The breathing was very difficult. The adviser said that her pulse was 120, which seems to be very high. The doctor spoke with us about other policies not only comfort care for the poor quality of life, we agree, but how long can such a thing before?
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Death By Aspiration Pneumonia Is There A Way To Predict How Close To Death A Geriatric Patient W/aspiration Pneumonia & Tachycardia May Be?
4 comments:
Love, there is no clear answer to this question. I think at this stage, the sounds of nature as the way to his father. I know it's hard, the suffering of his father, and I am sorry for you. But now it is time to decide whether his father is too tired or not. when we reach the point when dementia among those who know that they are completely helpless, unable to make decisions for themselves and someone should do what they feel completely powerless. I'm not saying that his father only give misunderstand, please. I mean, he is essentially a body what it wants, it can capture. It seems he has been fighting that for a very long time. but only because we are trying to understand does not mean that you can not hear or did not know that you're there. Never mind, I am a patient had several years ago, almost the same scenario, I said in my report, where it is transferred to our Hosp. He could not speak, so if I have to be in his room, making sure that I am not so b/ C, she had "the look" and I do not think they knew I was there and much less able to hear me. provide about 1 week for them, I was not in his room and said: "You talk to me." I wanted to cry, so he could hear and see and wanted to communicate w / and I do not know. I try to give false hopes, but we are taught in med. School, the hearing is the last to leave, please, even if you think you can not hear or know. talk to him, everything you can. If your ready to let go, and the family is willing to let him know that it is acceptable to us.
Unfortunately I can not imagine that someone may have an insurance number. There are ways to simply too numerous to be false.
I see this a lot in the hospital. And the trouble is that every person is different. Tomarrow may be, may be another month. The best thing to do for him to be there. I am sorry for your situation. This is one of the hardest things to do.
It depends on the will of his father to live. He looks like a massive infection (aspiration alone is not) lead to death, is due to the death as a rule only through the respiratory or cardiac causes.
In patients with comfort measures of care may be less than a day or month, there is no sure way of knowing.
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