Sharon and end of life decision making

Ariel Sharon is clearly a “larger than life” figure. He made incredible contributions to Israel over the entire 57 years it has existed. Ariel Sharon likely did not develop end of life plans.

As a physician, as a son, as a human being I am saddened that physicians continue with heroics to keep this man’s heart beating. The latest crisis occurred yesterday – PM ‘stable’ after emergency surgery

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a major setback on Saturday when a clot in an artery in his abdomen closed off the blood supply to part of his large intestine and required the surgical removal of a third (50 centimeters) of it.
There were no complications during the surgery, according to Hadassah Medical Organization director-general Shlomo Mor-Yosef.

After the three-hour operation, performed by senior surgeons at Hadassah-University Hospital in Ein Kerem, Sharon was in “critical but stable” condition, out of immediate danger and again attached to a respirator after he had been breathing on his own for weeks since his severe hemorrhagic stroke on January 4.

He is now recovering in the general intensive care unit on the ground floor after having spent five weeks in the seventh-floor neurosurgical intensive care unit. The sudden change in location required Hadassah to implement new security arrangements.

Acute occlusion of a branch of the superior mesenteric artery is usually due to a local embolism (clot) that originates in the blood vessel; the branch is about three centimeters in diameter. When blood does not reach the colon, it causes tissue to die in a process called necrosis. This condition is life threatening because dead tissue poisons the body and requires urgent surgical opening of the blood vessel and removal of the necrotic tissue.

Sharon continues to lie in a coma, and likely will never leave the hospital.

I wish his family would allow him to die. I understand that they do not want to give up hope, but sometimes hope really is not realistic.

I wish that newscasters would not make idiots of themselves in covering this story.

This is a sad story. If you have not considered end of life decision making please do. Think carefully about whether you would want all these heroics which only prolong suffering for all concerned.