Thursday, July 21, 2005
WHen it all comes to an end...
I peered through the glass panes, at the little body all riddled with tubes and lines running out of it. THe MO stood nervously in front of the isolation room, blabbering off line after line of the girl's long and complicated medical history. Behind him, the little girl lay motionless on the bed, the only signs of life was her chest moving up and down in respiration. Every breath seemed to take an enormous effort.
She had Acute myeloid lymphoma. With that, she had acute respiratory distress syndrome , pneumonia and a lot of other things i didn't catch. But bottom line was .. she was dying.
My supervisor said that she shouldn't be kept alive. I know it sounds cruel.. but the fact was this was a terminal case. It's so sad. her parents sold off everything in indonesia. THey were living in a little cabin on the hospital grounds. THey gave up everything for their little girl. But she wasn't going to go home.
I asked.. who makes the end of life decisions?
THe answer was : the doctor in charge.
That guy who was standing in front of us.
I can't imgine myself in that position. How can one look into that cherubic little face and make the decision to withhold treatment, knowing what was coming?
yeah, it's all HP, but until you actually see a case, you realise wat you might face in the future.
It's scary.
I peered through the glass panes, at the little body all riddled with tubes and lines running out of it. THe MO stood nervously in front of the isolation room, blabbering off line after line of the girl's long and complicated medical history. Behind him, the little girl lay motionless on the bed, the only signs of life was her chest moving up and down in respiration. Every breath seemed to take an enormous effort.
She had Acute myeloid lymphoma. With that, she had acute respiratory distress syndrome , pneumonia and a lot of other things i didn't catch. But bottom line was .. she was dying.
My supervisor said that she shouldn't be kept alive. I know it sounds cruel.. but the fact was this was a terminal case. It's so sad. her parents sold off everything in indonesia. THey were living in a little cabin on the hospital grounds. THey gave up everything for their little girl. But she wasn't going to go home.
I asked.. who makes the end of life decisions?
THe answer was : the doctor in charge.
That guy who was standing in front of us.
I can't imgine myself in that position. How can one look into that cherubic little face and make the decision to withhold treatment, knowing what was coming?
yeah, it's all HP, but until you actually see a case, you realise wat you might face in the future.
It's scary.
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