I'm peeved, but I don't know if I should be.
My 82-year-old grandfather (in TN) had surgery today to remove pre-cancerous polyps from his colon. He has a living will that states that he is not to remain on life support. My aunt in IN asked that if anything were to happen during surgery that they not "pull the plug" until she was able to get there (a couple of days, tops). My other aunt basically said "nope, he wants it pulled, I'm pulling it."
I'm not sure how I feel about that. In one way, I can understand because those are my grandfather's wishes, but then again, I'm sure he wouldn't want any of his children to not be able to say goodbye who desperately wanted to. {sigh}
Oh, surgery went VERY well, BTW. :)
Posted by beenie at August 2, 2004 08:44 PMRenie has to follow Dad's wishes. I know I would be unhappy if I didn't get to say goodbye but ignoring his wishes to appease someone elses would be disrespectful and selfish. I am 40 miles away and while I would want to say goodbye I would expect Dad's wishes to come over mine. Any other course would be disrespectful to Dad. I would not have that - this man has spent his life putting others needs above his and I would be angry if his wishes were subverted in this as well.
Renie has taken on the responsibilities of taking care of Mom and Dad at the expense of her own freedom and shouldn't be given a hard time about following their instructions. I know I haven't always agreed with her but she is acting in their best interest and with their blessing so she should not be in the middle here.
It is far better to visit the whole person than to wait until the end is there and see a shell f the person.
Just my slant on things.
Posted by: The COol Uncle at August 5, 2004 05:37 AM