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How Doctors Die (Read 1499 times)

    [Screw it.  Let's go with ... tl;dr.]

    "I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."

    -- Dick LeBeau


    Feeling the growl again

       

      (Spaniel, I know that you're speaking specifically of the latter years of life, as all of the previous posts have as well).

       

      Yes, it is a very different scenario to be talking about terminal cancer and neonatal care.  I have a preemie myself who had issues but is fine now. 

       

      My wife was a NICU nurse at a top insitution for a couple years...down in your neck of the woods in fact.  I've heard stories similar to yours and also some where, even for a baby, the handwriting was really on the wall but things were strung along.  I can't say that with a baby decisions regarding termination of care would be easy for me at all, however.

      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

       

      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

       

      LedLincoln


      not bad for mile 25

        [Screw it.  Let's go with ... tl;dr.]

         

        Well, I almost read it, hit the back & forward buttons, and it was gone.

        LedLincoln


        not bad for mile 25

          There are certainly times when the decision is not black and white.  Brian, that must have been a gut-wrenching time for you and your wife.  Glad you're past it, with a good outcome!

            There are certainly times when the decision is not black and white.  Brian, that must have been a gut-wrenching time for you and your wife.  Glad you're past it, with a good outcome!

             

            Shock is an amazing thing....

            The day that the shock went away was very gut wrenching.

            The days after were also tough.

            Today, it's still tough to think about.

             

            But...

            It was great to take him to a ALCS game here in Dallas for his 18th birthday a couple months ago.

            He's off to college next year.


            Life is good!

            Cheers,
            Brian

            Life Goals:

            #1: Do what I can do

            #2: Enjoy life

             

             

            Trent


            Good Bad & The Monkey

              In 1993, my oldest son was born at 25 1/2 weeks gestation, weighing under 2 lbs (890 grams).

               

              These days, 25 weeks is generally a long road but almost always survivable.

               

              My oldest daughter, 29 weeks, 981 grams.  She is now 13, the second tallest and the smartest member of the family.  Surfactant is good, for sure, but she ended up not even needing any.

              keeponrunning


                I was born at that same hospital that KerCanDo speaks of, and I now study at the affiliated university.  In the nice weather, I often see parents walking with their sick toddlers around the campus (it's a scenic campus with lots of trees and grass).  So heart wrenching to see but nice to know they do have the options available to them today.  

                Sulphur Springs 50km-- Ancaster, ON-- May 28, 2022

                Tally in the Valley 12 hours-- Dundas, ON -- July 30, 2022 (Support SickKids Toronto)

                Stokely Creek-- 56km-- Sault Ste. Marie, ON-- Sept. 24, 2022

                 

                 

                  These days, 25 weeks is generally a long road but almost always survivable.

                   

                  My oldest daughter, 29 weeks, 981 grams.  She is now 13, the second tallest and the smartest member of the family.  Surfactant is good, for sure, but she ended up not even needing any.

                   

                  Dr. Trent,

                  I found this a while ago, and I keep it as a "favorite link"....

                   

                  http://www.fasebj.org/content/18/13/1624e.full

                  "In 1976, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute sponsored a multimillion dollar trial that established the value of steroids to prevent respiratory distress in premature newborns. Nevertheless, it was not until a consensus conference on this topic, held in 1993 by NIH, that steroid treatment for RDS became widespread. "

                   

                  "Annual deaths from respiratory distress syndrome in the United States decreased from between 10 to 15 thousand babies annually in the 1950s and 1960s to fewer than one thousand per year in 2002. "

                   

                  Wow!

                  Timing is wonderful....


                  Interestingly, (and I know you know this...), the lungs develop during the mid-20's gestation, and the surface area of those lungs made life almost impossible for premies without the surfactant.  It's amazing what every extra week does for those little ones.

                   

                  My 2nd child (born 10 years later) was 31 weeks, and he was a chubby 3lbs,13oz.... 

                  Life Goals:

                  #1: Do what I can do

                  #2: Enjoy life

                   

                   

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