My mother, a smoker for 42 years whom we
have suspected has had emphysema for many
years, was taken to the ER Sunday after
being sick for 2 days and very short of
breath. Very high heart rate in A-fib,
high BP and very low O2 in her blood.
They got her back to normal sinus rhythm
and stablized her other vitals by day 2.
That night she asked for a sleeping pill
to get some rest (night b4 she was given
an anxiety pill which helped her rest w/o
any side effects), but the Ambien made her
strung out, confused and not able to focus
on her breathing patterns while awake.
She rapidly went downhill w/ her breathing
and they moved her to the CVU on a gas
machine. Within 20 minutes it was evident
that this would not help her soon enough
(she was breathing 42 x's/min) and the
pulmonary doc said that if we didn't put
her on a respirator she'd arrest and
possibly expire within a day or two.
what? I always knew this would be her
end, but she was at work and same as
always on Wednesday last week! She is
only 60. She had said she did not want a
tube in her throat when we were in the ER
prior to being admitted, but it was put to
her that if she couldn't control her
breathing on her own, they's simply have
to put a tube in her throat. They never
presented her with the dilemma I faced w/
the pulmonary doc. So, I had her put on
respirator, she'll be on it for 2 days and
if she is stablized, they will wean her
off.
My question is based on what my brother
and I should expect for what will be her
life from this point forward. Will she
have a life or will she need care 24/7?
Even though I am certain it would have
destroyed me if I had made the decision to
risk her dying by not putting her on the
respirator, I feel like I may have
condemned her to a life of very little
quality. I was reassured by many docs and
RNs that my decision was the right one and
that she will be much better once she has
gotten O2 to her lungs, heart and brain
for a couple of days, but what is 'much
better'? My bro and I live 1.5 hours away
from her and she lives alone.
You made a right decision Posted: 04-01-08 09:22am
Medical ethics asks from doctors to do
whatever is in their power no matter how
desperate a patient's condition might be.
Your mother's breathing was additionally
compromised by giving her a sedative. The
sedative probably disturbed the breathing
center in the brain. In such cases
assisted respiration is an absolute
necessity.
I agree that she could have gotten better
if there hadn't occurred brain damage
caused by temporary hypoxia. You should
know that her primary disease (emphysema)
is a chronic and progressive disorder.
Bearing in mind that her lung disorder is
additionally complicated by
cardio-vascular diseases (hypertension and
heart failure), you can expect her quality
of life to decrease gradually.
