So, couple of things. Just had my wife read this (she is a doc) and we chatted about this.
We are in our mid-30s and several years ago she was admitted to the ER and then ICU for 7 days for an obviously life threatening situation. (She has a near blanket NO CODE, FYI). She recovered, but there was at least 48 hours where her odds were "much worse than a coin flip" as on of her colleagues told me.
So people distinguish the different situations, in that situation she and her colleagues (she was treated at her own hospital...given that it was the best hosp in the country) knew about her NO CODE and still treated her. The reason being that medical intervention was near 100% likely to produce a positive outcome and bring her back to a normal quality of life.
However, if given a terminal diagnosis such as in the story, my wife, without hesitation, said she would choose to go without treatment. She went further and wished that this type of article could make its way to the NYT or some other outlet to get normal folks to think about. She, like most doctors, has seen way too many people "try to live" only to saddle their family with huge expenses, not dramatically effect their prognosis and basically make the rest of their lives as painful as possible.
Obviously not a fun conversation to have with your SO, but I for sure know exactly what she wants and how to ask the right questions at the hospital just in case. She also knows what I would want and how to make the right decisions.
We are in our mid-30s and several years ago she was admitted to the ER and then ICU for 7 days for an obviously life threatening situation. (She has a near blanket NO CODE, FYI). She recovered, but there was at least 48 hours where her odds were "much worse than a coin flip" as on of her colleagues told me.
So people distinguish the different situations, in that situation she and her colleagues (she was treated at her own hospital...given that it was the best hosp in the country) knew about her NO CODE and still treated her. The reason being that medical intervention was near 100% likely to produce a positive outcome and bring her back to a normal quality of life.
However, if given a terminal diagnosis such as in the story, my wife, without hesitation, said she would choose to go without treatment. She went further and wished that this type of article could make its way to the NYT or some other outlet to get normal folks to think about. She, like most doctors, has seen way too many people "try to live" only to saddle their family with huge expenses, not dramatically effect their prognosis and basically make the rest of their lives as painful as possible.
Obviously not a fun conversation to have with your SO, but I for sure know exactly what she wants and how to ask the right questions at the hospital just in case. She also knows what I would want and how to make the right decisions.