A painting of me

A Pacemaker Wrecks a Family's Life. ⇒

   21 June 2010, mid-morning

A very depressing story from the New York Times on dying, dementia, living too long, medical care, the emotional impact of caring for the dying, and a whole host of other things. The MetaFilter thread about this article is perhaps even more depressing than the article itself. Some of this story is particular to the dsyfunction that is the American health care system. I’m sure there are similar problems to be found in how the system works in Canada.

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Comments

  1. I haven’t read the entire article yet, but every time my dad ends up in the hospital the doctors will keep him there for 2-3 days just to make absolutely sure it’s premature to put in a pacemaker.. (he’s had an irregular heart beat since forever.. I’m talking 30+ years now) I remember the last time he was in the hospital they were seriously adamant about putting one in.. even though operating on him for any reason is super risky at this point… his regular cardiologist had to talk the hospital staff out of doing the procedure.

    by sh!ma on June 21 2010, 11:07 am   #

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