The Doctor Will See You Now [Non-Fiction]

Chapter 122: General Medicine

Pre-COVID story.

Two hours into my on-call period, I'm called to a 95-year-old woman's deterioration on the rehab ward. Her blood pressure and heart rate are low. She's about to go into cardiac arrest. She has advanced dementia and a host of medical issues.

My partner calls the next-of-kin -- all of whom are abroad and cannot actually be contacted. He manages to contact the granddaughter, who says she isn't really supposed to make medical decisions because she's not immediate family. The patient has sons who are on the other side of the world and none of whom have visited since her admission over a month ago.

As a result, we intubate and CPR this poor woman. There is blood coming out of her endotracheal tube (the tube shoved down her throat to make her breathe). She regains a pulse after ten minutes. She remains unconscious.

ICU calls the granddaughter and re-explains the situation. The patient is gravely unwell and can die at any moment. CPR is not in her best interest. She's 95. It's her time to go. The granddaughter agrees on a personal level but she still can't take the responsibility of making the decision for the family.

The next day, I come in to hear the patient had arrested again overnight and regained a pulse. Twice in a day. The sons have finally been contacted by the ward. They won't be here for another two days.

So they haven't made an effort to visit her in hospital during her long stay and still aren't making an effort of getting the next available flight back even though she'd died twice within twenty-four hours -- but also refuses to let her die naturally, at the expense of her crushed ribs, internal bleeding, and a plastic tube down her throat.

Family? I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

Two weeks later, I find out the patient has died. The entire family was able to visit the dying old woman wholly unconscious on sedation, with a tube down her throat, on maximum doses of heart-strengthening medication, and her ribs crushed multiple times.