Considering Quality of Life

Abstract

“Doctor, you look surprised that I’m asking if Inez’s respirator can be turned off. Look, what kind of life does she have? She’s 5 years old and has been in the hospital most of the time. She can’t eat normally, and because of the dysfunctional bowel problem, even tube feedings don’t work. So, she needs a central line, and it keeps coming out and has to be replaced surgically. She can’t breathe properly, so she has that tracheostomy, which needs aspiration several times a day, and she struggles against that. Even though her mental age is only 2 or 3 months, I know she feels things. Sometimes I think I see her smile a little bit, but most of the time I think she’s feeling pain.”