Losing the Battle for Dignity of Life
I find myself in one of life's lousy situations. My mother was killed as a result of a car crash 10 years ago. My oldest brother, Richard died last year from COPD, heart failure and most likely lung cancer. My father has Congestive Heart Failure and COPD and this has resulted in other medical complications. Last week, he went into the hospital in Florida and I was on a plane from Israel that night. He is now back home, but he is suffering and quite miserable. He cancelled a doctor's appointment today for his now problematic kidneys as he has decided to let whatever happens, happen. I fully understand his decision and therefore had no arguments. His quality of life has deteriorated considerably and will continue to do so as COPD is a progressive disease with no cure and only minor things that can assist his quality of life, such as being connected almost full time to oxygen. He has lost his most cherished of all aspects of his life, his independence. At almost 90 years old, m...