Was it Death by Morphine?
Over the weekend, our hospice patient slipped into a coma and quietly passed away, surrounded by family. When that happens and the patient is on a morphine drip, I always wonder what killed them. Was it the illness or the morphine? Her dose was 65 times the usual rate.
Of course we're not trying to hasten anyone's death and we don't give any more morphine than is necessary to ease a person's pain, but still, I wonder if we killed her. Although our efforts are legal and only done with the best of intentions, I wonder if she would still be alive without the morphine. (But if I'm the one who is terminally ill, please turn the morphine up all of the way and don't worry about it.)
Written by Melissa on 10:52 AM
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Melissa blogging from sunny Santa Clarita, Southern California, United States.
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4 Comments:
Me too!
I'm not into tatoos, but if I ever got one, it would say across my chest, DNR (do not resusitate).
I have seen many patients die in CCU and in hospice and I'll take the morphine drip with a fentanyl patch on the side!
When our beloved pets become terminally ill and are suffering our kind veterinarians end their suffering with a painless injection that allows them to pass on in peace in the arms of their loving family. Why can't we offer the same kindness to humans?
(if you don't like tatoos you can always use a magic marker)
I agree with you, Sarah. Our treatment of dying pets is much more humane than our treatment of dying humans. If we allowed a dog to suffer the way terminal patients sometimes suffer, we would probably be prosecuted for animal cruelty.
I would much rather go to sleep from a morphine overdose than go through the final agonizing death throes that we have seen our patients going through.
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