My mother is 90 years old, with mild to moderate dementia, a history of small strokes that have somewhat affected her speech & comprehension. She cannot take any more blood thinners due to the fact that she bleeds very often because her skin is very fragile. She also has many cancerous skin lesions (not melanoma). She is not a candidate for surgery or sedation due to the bleeding and dementia. If she has a major stroke, or even another small, but noticeable stroke, what are my options? Doctor seems biased against treatment, but my mother does have a decent quality of life, according to her. She seems content enough, as long as she has her children &/or caregivers present for most of the day, until bedtime.At this pt, that is still feasible; it will become a prob. in a few years once money is gone. She can eat with minimal supervision pureed food. I think she should get treatment, just not sure. I’m pretty sure she would want to live, not sure she would want to go to hosp, not sure she would understand everything, and end up being very stressed.
Answer:
The default in such questions is always to preserve life for as long as possible. Only in extraordinary circumstances, where a person is in constant pain for instance, and where he prefers death over life, is there room to consider refraining from treatment.
Please see our article on the subject here.
In the case of the question, it is certainly right to continue treatment, of course depending on continuing developments.
Best wishes.
