Comments Task B

Point of view:

Dr. Chan, thank you for reminding me to be grateful for my amazing good health. Thank you for reminding me of how fortunate I have been. Thank you for reminding me to enjoy every day I have. I am well into my late 50s. I'm starting to feel aches and am realizing that I can no longer do certain things - not without modifications. Thank you for reminding to count my blessings.

Position:

Offering "care" that prolongs suffering and is not curative is not only unethical, but also a waste of resources.  If you are having difficulty with having a conversation or you cannot do it well you should have a palliative care specialist do it for you.  It is so much more than communication.  It is providing interventions to alleviate death anxiety along with providing physical, emotional and spiritual comfort.  Palliative care should be introduced at the time of diagnosis as a normal part of cancer treatment.

Argument:

Thank you. Quality rather than quantity should be the guiding hand. It is sad to read outcomes that state this or that treatment extended life by 2 or 3 months. Months of what? Nausea, pain, semi consciousness? We've hospiced parents at home, and believe me, making the end as comfortable as possible is the best and only goal.

Description:

Our beautiful 22 year old son was diagnosed with colorectal cancer.  Stage 3. 5 months later his docs gave up on him. He wanted to continue fighting.  We were then going to move him to another hospital for treatment. Before dischargeing him they did a pain procedure. Proper precautions not taken and he aspirated   He lived on a ventilator for 7 weeks before passing from complications of the aspiration.  Had his docs not given up
on him he may still be here.  They just abandoned him when the going got tough.  You don’t do that to a 23 year old.

Explanation:

I'm glad that Dr. Chan honors the rights of patients who want to keep fighting until the end. They have the right to try everything reasonable available if they think that a new treatment might work or at least give them extra time.
I hope that he also supports the death with dignity laws that are passing in some states. When a patient accepts that the treatments aren't working and the end is inevitable, lessening the suffering shouldn't be the only other option. Patients who are ready to end the suffering and end their lives surrounded by the people and things that they love shouldn't be hampered by the state or by their doctors.