Dad's (63yrs of age, early onset dementia) taken a turn for the worst, an infection he had when he was living in the old folks home we discovered (after moving him back home) was a nasty chest infection.
Thought we got that sorted last week, when he was put in hospital and had a drain put into his chest and was given super you beaut antibiotics...he was really coming along well...but between yesterday and today, its been found that he has other fluid on his lungs, and basically the speech pathologist has deemed him Nil by mouth as she believes he is swallowing his food into his lungs...and that this will kill him...
Anyways the hospital has given us three options:
1. Stop treatment and he will die probably in a week or so, as he won't be getting any food,fluids and antibiotics;
2. Keep on with the current treatment and he will die within a month or so in their estimation because again he won't be getting much real food;
3. Send him in for an operation (where the risks are high that the anasethetic may kill him because of the current state of his lungs and his brain damage) to insert a tube into his stomach and then he can be continued to be sustained by food.
Dad can't walk or talk, but he chatters and mumbles and looks into your eyes and converses in his own way, so we as the family have decided on option 3 as he doesn't look like he wants to give in, he 'seems' to be able to put up with the ***** this disease deals upon him and seems to want to keep fighting...our only concern is not knowing what the effects of such a food tube are.
So my question is, does anyone know?
1. Are they painful?
2. Could it lead to god awful suffering in the future? I mean other than the god awful suffering that he has had to deal with constantly for the last 3yrs or so?
Some might think that we're crazy for not even considering option 1 and 2, but I have to say in my Dad's case, and its always different for each individual, they just don't seem to be an option..
We have been told that the food tube may not help at all either, as he may still apparently bring the food back up into his lungs...but to see his eyes...we just have to try...?
Thought we got that sorted last week, when he was put in hospital and had a drain put into his chest and was given super you beaut antibiotics...he was really coming along well...but between yesterday and today, its been found that he has other fluid on his lungs, and basically the speech pathologist has deemed him Nil by mouth as she believes he is swallowing his food into his lungs...and that this will kill him...
Anyways the hospital has given us three options:
1. Stop treatment and he will die probably in a week or so, as he won't be getting any food,fluids and antibiotics;
2. Keep on with the current treatment and he will die within a month or so in their estimation because again he won't be getting much real food;
3. Send him in for an operation (where the risks are high that the anasethetic may kill him because of the current state of his lungs and his brain damage) to insert a tube into his stomach and then he can be continued to be sustained by food.
Dad can't walk or talk, but he chatters and mumbles and looks into your eyes and converses in his own way, so we as the family have decided on option 3 as he doesn't look like he wants to give in, he 'seems' to be able to put up with the ***** this disease deals upon him and seems to want to keep fighting...our only concern is not knowing what the effects of such a food tube are.
So my question is, does anyone know?
1. Are they painful?
2. Could it lead to god awful suffering in the future? I mean other than the god awful suffering that he has had to deal with constantly for the last 3yrs or so?
Some might think that we're crazy for not even considering option 1 and 2, but I have to say in my Dad's case, and its always different for each individual, they just don't seem to be an option..
We have been told that the food tube may not help at all either, as he may still apparently bring the food back up into his lungs...but to see his eyes...we just have to try...?