Extracts from an excellent article in the Washington Post:
I head to the ER. If I’m lucky, the family will accept the news that, in a time when we can separate conjoined twins and reattach severed limbs, people still wear out and die of old age. If I’m lucky, the family will recognize that their loved one’s life is nearing its end.
We want our loved ones to live as long as possible, but our culture has come to view death as a medical failure rather than life’s natural conclusion.
Suffering is like a fire: Those who sit closest feel the most heat; a picture of a fire gives off no warmth. That’s why it’s typically the son or daughter who has been physically closest to an elderly parent’s pain who is the most willing to let go.
At a certain stage of life, aggressive medical treatment can become sanctioned torture. When a case such as this comes along, nurses, physicians and therapists sometimes feel conflicted and immoral. We’ve committed ourselves to relieving suffering, not causing it. A retired nurse once wrote to me: “I am so glad I don’t have to hurt old people any more.”
Read the whole article here.
It’s like the Martin Amis man says: being human and growing old is a horror story; and like all good horror stories, they (?) leave the worst until last.
This is a terrific article, and a great topic to address from all sides.