Canadian Family Fights to Keep Baby Boy's Breathing Tube in Place

DNA Solves
DNA Solves
DNA Solves

New Posts

MsRyber said:
In this case, I can't imagine doing an invasive trach being any less painful than removing the breathing tube. I feel sorry for this little boy either way. But what if they do the trach and he dies on the way home? What purpose is it serving? I understand they want him to die at home. But who is paying for this? OHIP is a tricky thing. How do you choose who gets what procedure and what is fair?
Such a sad story. I understand both points of view. This is sometimes the sad side of public healthcare. If everyone's tax dollars are paying for the little one's care, I can understand when the end result is the same that Joe Public isn't going to be on board with paying for another procedure when the outcome is going to be the same.

Just a sad, sad situation.
Click to expand...

Sad situation, indeed. :(

I don't agree that just because he's on the public dole, that the family shouldn't have a say in how their son is treated. I don't understand it either. How is a trach worse than removing the breathing tube, and letting him choke that way?
 
PeteyGirl said:
You just can't do this to a parent. You can't take the choice away from them :(

We can't let this become a world where "officials" can force these kinds of decisions upon families :(

I am an oncology nurse, and frequently we encounter similar situations with adult family members (rather than children). The patient's prognosis is dismal, and they are slipping away, almost trying to die, yet the family is unwilling to allow nature to take it's course.

Most families DO, but now and then, the family just can't do it. They are making the best decision they can, the only decision they believe they can live with. And THEY are the ones living with it, who will live with it long after their loved one has passed on.

Decisions like this canNOT be made unilaterally when the family does not agree. Politics, suffering, death with dignity --- pffft. This is about parents who are losing ANOTHER child.

The child is essentially gone already :( . The parents will continue to live, and robbing them of what they obviously feel so right about is just so cruel. I don't care how many professionals have consulted. If they recommend taking away this last thing the parents want to do for their dying child, they have lost touch with their humanity.

I have witnessed medical staff in a state of outrage against family members who insist upon continuing treatment in a doomed situation. It is exhausting and SO painful to put a dying man in an MRI, or subject them to ANYTHING other than pure comfort care. We get burnt out, a lot. We get angry and disgusted with family members who we perceive are causing their loved one unnecessary suffering.

But who's choice is it? That's the real question.

This isn't OUR family member, our child.

It's a tragedy. We need to take more pity on the living, who will have to live with what happened for the rest of their lives. I don't personally see any other humane choice.
Click to expand...

Thank YOU So much for your perspective!!!! :rocker:

It is hard on all sides, and ya, medically, they ALL know this baby is going to pass on soon. But why can they not just do this for the parents???? The parents are not under some disillusion that he will live... They simply want to care for him on their own. Thats all....

My cousin, finally left the hospital at 4 mos of age because there was no hope. I was young, but I know she had a feeding tube, not sure what else. Well I attended her funeral when she finally passed at 11 years old. I believe in hope, and I believe in closure for parents losing a child. Is that too much to ask? Closure?
 
there seem to be some bozos who think threatening the hospital is going to help matters
 
So it seems like this family is requesting a trach. so the child can pass at home.

This is so sad.

I can see why they wouldn't want to perform the surgery. Of course, it's risky. It may be very painful though to a child who doesn't have the words to tell about it.

It's too bad they can't get a pediatric hospice involvement. Maybe they can provide some home nursing so the child can die at home in peace.
 
mywarmbluefleece said:
So it seems like this family is requesting a trach. so the child can pass at home.

This is so sad.

I can see why they wouldn't want to perform the surgery. Of course, it's risky. It may be very painful though to a child who doesn't have the words to tell about it.

It's too bad they can't get a pediatric hospice involvement. Maybe they can provide some home nursing so the child can die at home in peace.
Click to expand...

I agree. To me this is not so much about which procedure, but more about how this hospital has obviously become confrontational instead of caring and supportive of this suffering family. I have been in situations where the doctors and hospitals acted like God and made demands and insisted on things (not safety things, things like taking my grandfather's BP at 2 AM when he was DNR and in a coma). I have gotten myself bowed up and furious, with all my rage and grief coming out on that one nurse. I have also found myself with sensitive, caring people who gave me information and choices and, while I knew I was being "managed", felt like they really did understand my pain and we ended up doing things we didn't think we wanted to do. And I have thanked them for guiding me and giving me time to come to that place.

It sounds like this place handled this completely wrong, knew the history and took any measure of control away from this family. Instead of leading them gently to a peaceful passing for this precious boy, they wrapped him in red tape and refused to budge an inch when considering the family's wishes.

The best we can hope for is that they learn from this case, but being under the government's thumb, I'm not holding my breath.
 
OneLostGrl said:
It seems it helped matters..

From the article..
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/0...-boy-vegetative-state-die-home/#ixzz1FIHm4lha


"The announcement comes as the hospital finds itself on the receiving end of threats sent by e-mail and phone calls, many of them said to come from the U.S. The hospital has since beefed up its security."
Click to expand...

I'm not going to agree with people who are threatening violence, but I'm glad Americans are paying attention and letting the hospital know that this is not good for business.

I'm also pretty sure it hasn't made the public healthcare proponents here too happy. This is not the kind of advertising they're looking for.
 
angelmom said:
I'm not going to agree with people who are threatening violence, but I'm glad Americans are paying attention and letting the hospital know that this is not good for business.

I'm also pretty sure it hasn't made the public healthcare proponents here too happy. This is not the kind of advertising they're looking for.
Click to expand...

I'm with you 100% and am surprised the hospital gave in because of threats.
 
OneLostGrl said:
It seems it helped matters..

From the article..
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/0...-boy-vegetative-state-die-home/#ixzz1FIHm4lha


"The announcement comes as the hospital finds itself on the receiving end of threats sent by e-mail and phone calls, many of them said to come from the U.S. The hospital has since beefed up its security."
Click to expand...

They just said on Fox News that the family didn't know anything about this. The family is going to give a statement shortly.

This hospital is getting some baaaad press from their behavior in handling this case, and has said that they are removing the contact information from their website because of threats they've received.

I also, can't approve of threats, but IMO this hospital deserves every bit of criticism they get. The way they've treated this family is beyond inhumane. I just don't understand why the medical personnel would do this to a family at it's most vulnerable. Why don't they have hospice available to them?
 
While it wasn't the hospitals choice to make and I'm glad everything is in the hands of his parents now. I feel they are continuing his suffering :(
 
OT - gotta love Canada's judicial system ... They refuse to do this (but finally give in) for this family. This reminded me of a documentary I saw "Dear Zachary ...." (I cried through the last half of this movie)

**snip**
In late 2002, a Supreme Court justice in Newfoundland rules that there is sufficient evidence for an American or Canadian jury to conclude Turner killed Bagby, and she is taken into custody. Turner writes to a judge and receives a response detailing how to appeal her arrest and subsequent hold in jail. Turner is released by Justice Gale Welsh, who feels she has exhibited no behavior that suggests she poses a threat to society in general. Turner thus regains custody of Zachary. On August 18, 2003, Turner, carrying the 13-month-old infant Zachary, jumps into the Atlantic Ocean from a fishing wharf in Foxtrap; both perish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Zachary:_A_Letter_to_a_Son_About_His_Father
 
Am I to understand the parents want the hospital to perform a tracheotomy (sp) so the child can be brought home? That's a pretty invasive procedure, and IMHO, I don't know if I would put an already critically ill child through that. This to bring him home and pass away? hmmmm...that's a really tough call.

Personally, I wouldn't do it -- but that's just my opinion.

Prayers to all.

Mel
 
Tuffy said:
Sad situation, indeed. :(

I don't agree that just because he's on the public dole, that the family shouldn't have a say in how their son is treated. I don't understand it either. How is a trach worse than removing the breathing tube, and letting him choke that way?
Click to expand...

Universal health care isn't "the public dole."

This is a highly complicated ethical situation. I have some opinions on the matter, but can't make a judgement because I don't know all the details. It's too bad, though, that certain political ideologues and anti-choice groups have latched on to this family at this time.
 
LaWanda said:
OT - gotta love Canada's judicial system ... They refuse to do this (but finally give in) for this family. This reminded me of a documentary I saw "Dear Zachary ...." (I cried through the last half of this movie)

**snip**
In late 2002, a Supreme Court justice in Newfoundland rules that there is sufficient evidence for an American or Canadian jury to conclude Turner killed Bagby, and she is taken into custody. Turner writes to a judge and receives a response detailing how to appeal her arrest and subsequent hold in jail. Turner is released by Justice Gale Welsh, who feels she has exhibited no behavior that suggests she poses a threat to society in general. Turner thus regains custody of Zachary. On August 18, 2003, Turner, carrying the 13-month-old infant Zachary, jumps into the Atlantic Ocean from a fishing wharf in Foxtrap; both perish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Zachary:_A_Letter_to_a_Son_About_His_Father
Click to expand...

You can watch this movie free online.. Maybe the Public television website.. I know it was a legit website NOT a file sharing thing.....

I watched it was in like 5 pieces and it broke my heart in a way that nothing else has... if you haven't seen it, you must. I know when I was done i googled like crazy trying to figure out what happened to his grandparents.....
UGH their heartbrake you could just feel it to your core.... the miscarriage of justice... it was later found during some type of inquest that there were several mistakes made..... but none of that brought back their son or grandson.....
 
Though Joseph has been at Victoria Hospital since October with a severe neurological disorder, his specific condition remains undiagnosed. Nevertheless, doctors have given him no chance of recovery.

The hospital says nine specialists have confirmed he’s in a “persistent vegetative state,” but the family and their close supporters disagree. Family members say Joseph is fully responsive to touch, particularly that he hates being touched by cold hands, tickles easily, and moves his head when his hair is brushed. They also say he responds to loud noises by turning his head toward the sound.
The hospital has warned the family that they will be banned from the hospital if they try to take videos, which is preventing the family from documenting Joseph’s responses and movements

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/baby-josephs-parents-denied-private-visitations
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Fairfield County Jane Doe (1993)?

Members online

... and 100 more.
Total: 359 (members: 101, guests: 258)

Online statistics

Members online
101
Guests online
258
Total visitors
359
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
609,479
Messages
18,254,720
Members
234,664
Latest member
wrongplatform
Back
Top