Questionmy dad recently passed away from pancreatic cancer and I wanted to run the scenario by someone who can tell me if there is anything abnormal about his palliative treatment. it was only six days from being admitted to the hospital to his death, on the second day after CT scan the emergency room doctor said he is dying. so they move him into another wing with 4 beds then for the last three days into a private room, the hospice wing is full. the nurses are there changing his diapers because he is excreting dried blood from the rectum and that is obviously very bad. on the last day after a good nights rest for both of us (I sleep in the room with him )I shave him in the morning and am in and out of the room during the day. one of the times I am out a student nurse gives him too much water to drink and he retches up quite alot and they give him a shot ( this is something I am troubled about )then when the excretion starts to actually turn red I tell him and shortly after he starts breathing outwardly in what he says is ' huffing ' there is no sound inhaling other than taking in air but exhaling is a sharp noise like calling out. I ask if telling him about the red ( end being near ) upset him and he says no he needed to know. I ask the nurse to give him something to calm the breathing but it doesnt work and I ask him if he wants another shot he says no ' I want to do this myself ' ( face this myself ) it goes like this into the night until I cant take it anymore and ask for a second shot - the nurse says she has to be careful with the doses - 5 mg morphine - and within 5 minutes of being given the second shot his breathing slows and he dies while I am holding his hand and can no longer respond to my words and is declared ' gone ' by the nurses. is this common in hospitals? is the scenario I describe not unusual? I am very upset about this and want to know if the second shot was akin to euthanasia or is the hospital protected because I asked for the shot? I'm sorry to involve you in such a dramatic story but I need some outside feedback to get some perspective.
in canada.
AnswerPlease don't get upset with me over this, but in reading it, I get several "vibes."
Losing a parent is about the hardest thing to go through that people face... I lost both mine in different ways and can vouch for that.
When you see a loved one dying, it is almost natural to project your anger and frustration onto others, and the healthcare givers usual receive it. Pancreatic cancer, when spread, is a very rapid killer, but does it quite painfully. Someone in cancer pain would not be overdosed with 5 mg of morphine repeated over 5-10 minutes.
The scenario is not unusual, and I don't see this as euthenasia, but if it was, that is very wrong (ethically and legally)
In the big picture, your dad had a bad, incurable disease that always results in a fairly rapid, usually painful death. There isn't a valid treatment to cure and extensive measures like feeding tubes may prolong life briefly. It is frustrating and difficult to see a family member go through this and it also frustrating and difficult from our point of view to treat an unfixable problem.... sometimes all we can do is try to make a patient's passing comfortable and help the family get through it.
But your specific question.... I don't see anything so abnormal or wrong.
I hope this helps
