The thread in the Medical forum on prostate cancer, and in particular,
Fortyodd's post regarding the risk of surgery, reminds me of what happened to a relative in November 2007.
Age 78, mentally & physically as fit as a fiddle, he had been diagnosed with abdominal aortic aneurysm through a population screening programme.
In deciding what course of action to take, his thoughts were that he would risk the surgery rather than risk a sudden collapse at perhaps an inopportune time.
So he tidied up his affairs, and in mid November 2007, surgery undertaken, only to be rushed back to the table from ITU due to blood loss. 28 units later, and after most of the night under anaesthetic, he is finally returned to ITU. Thanks are due to the
National Blood Service.
It's now February, and he has only just left the HDU for a ward. He's still got a perforated small bowel from complications during the surgery, and has drains to alleiviate foul build-up. He is being fed through a tube.
Now the grafted plumbing is infected, and, in the opinion of the Consultant, is non-operable. His body is fighting the infection, but without a spleen (from an operation ten years ago), is not repairing the abdominal wound. To top it all, he's contracted MRSA.
So we're waiting for him to die. Palliative care, including anti-depressants, is being administered, but if (when) scepticemia or some other disaster befalls him, his wife and adult children have decided (in consultation with the various surgeons & doctors) to not administer recussitative care. We have decided not to tell him, in case he starts pulling tubes out, or something.
It's very strange going to visit him. We have to put on a smile and a brave face, especially since he is so mentally alert. He knows that he is very ill, but not the whole picture. He is making plans on what he is going to do when he gets out.
Should he have undergone the surgery in the first place? He thought so last November, and even now, we think so too. He would have for ever been worried about "when his time was up".
It's quite sad that he'll never experience flight again; one of the greatest pleasures in his life.