COVID-19 and Ventilators: Life Choices

[Clix Pix]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/07/ventilators-rationing-coronavirus-hosp

Edited to correct link; it seems that they've also changed the headline of the article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/07/ventilators-rationing-coronavirus-hospitals/

Unfortunately, given the current shortage of ventilators along with other essential medical equipment, this is a grim reality with which many hospital staff and medical personnel around the US and around the world are grappling right now.

This is something for each of us to think about. As for me, right now I'm fine and healthy and apparently unaffected by the virus, since I've been isolating myself, staying at home, etc., etc. . As we know, though, things can change. So, if in spite of my best efforts to stay safe I wind up in the hospital seriously ill at some point after all, the decision is fairly easy if my physical health status changes to the point of needing a ventilator. I will simply say no thanks. Put This in the Chart: DNR. DNI. I have a few reasons for that, and one is my age (just turned 75 not all that long ago so am now I guess considered to be in the cohort of "aged" and while having enjoyed a pleasant retirement I really am not making significant contributions to the world, nor am I likely to do so in the future. Just an ordinary citizen here). More importantly from a medical logistics standpoint, under the best of circumstances I am considered a "difficult intubation" due to my particular physical anatomy. I don't see any point in medical staff struggling and spending a lot of time trying to get me intubated and finally getting me on a vent, only to have the outcome later on be a negative one anyway. I'd rather they save and use that ventilator and their time for someone who can genuinely benefit from it right from the get-go and who will go on to recover and live a happy, healthy life after this nightmare is over.

That's just me and what I have decided; obviously other people will make other decisions based upon their own lives and situations, their own priorities, their own health situation prior to the whole COVID-19 pandemic in the first place.

 

[Palouse]

What can I say?
Thank you for being utterly human. And yes, there are still 10000000s of pictures for you to take yet.

 

[Mike Buckley]

All of us have those decisions to make whether we realize it or not. Best to be fully informed when we make them, as you clearly seem to be.

 

[LyndeeLoo]

Connie - you cannot possibly be 75! No way, no how! Remember- I met you a few years back and you were a spring chick then. I do believe we need to recheck that birth certificate of yours!

And thank you for a very thought-provoking post. It looks as though you have thought about this long and hard and have come to a decision based on what is best for you.

 

[Mitchell]

Tough post to read, but this is a reality we all should be pondering. From what I gather, the survival rate of all patients who require a ventilator for a Covid-19 infection is less than 80%. I suspect it looks even more grim if we were to stratify by age.

Stay home and stay safe, Connie!

 

[Terri French]

Connie, how I enjoy knowing you here on the cafe. You have so thoughtfully considered your response should you need a ventilator. Please take care and stay well. That new camera of yours has a lot of photos left in it that you need to take!

 

[Mike Buckley]

From what I gather, the survival rate of all patients who require a ventilator for a Covid-19 infection is less than 80%.

CNN has been regularly reporting that it's more like a 50% survival rate.

 

[Allan]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/07/ventilators-rationing-coronavirus-hosp

I could not get the link to work.

 

[Mike Buckley]

I could not get the link to work.

I think the link is https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/07/ventilators-rationing-coronavirus-hospitals/

 

[Pa]

I could not get the link to work.

Neither could I.

But I did read your post and I appreciate your position on this matter. I wish more people would think these things out in advance like you have.

Take care of yourself and stay away from other people and you will not reach that decision point.

 

[crazy]

Connie's post is a timely reminder for all of us to seriously consider our life choices, not only for Covid-19, but also for all significant life events. Having watched my parents' final phases of life with dementia and cancer, being clinically alive is not living in my mind.

Good health, Connie, and good health, all!

 

[MNglass]

Interesting. My spouse works in a field (renal/lung/liver transplant) that addresses the question every single day of a limited resource (harvested/donated organs) that is literally tied to life expectancy. It is not like this is an issue that physicians and patients have never faced before and frankly there are no perfect answers - but there are practical (and at least agreed upon fair) ones.

The absolutely, utterly incomprehensible issue here is that we failed to prepare or respond strategically to an issue right in front of us. But that's another discussion.

 

[Clix Pix]

Thanks, All! Special thanks to Mike for providing the correct link -- don't know what happened there with mine. Right now The Washington Post is providing free access to all articles which are related to COVID-19 so it should be available to all.

My primary motivation in putting this post out here was indeed to start people thinking about their own situations, their own wishes. Anyone who doesn't have an up-to-date will, this is a good time to be working on that as well, along with a "Living Will"/Advance Health Directive. It's too easy in the busyness of day-to-day life to neglect to attend to these things and often when caught up in a medical crisis it is too late.

Thanks for the good wishes -- I'm healthy and have every intention of living to be at least in my 90's if not older, like many family members had done! Yep, can't go yet -- I have a lot of photos to take, a lot of places to see, a lot of things to do......

 

[Palouse]

As I'm fond of saying, and I can't remember who I stole this from, I plan on living until the end of my life. I guarantee that!

 

[Pa]

I have a cousin approaching 98 who says he wants to live to 100 and die at the hands of a jealous husband.

 

[Terri French]

I have a cousin approaching 98 who says he wants to live to 100 and die at the hands of a jealous husband.

My mother in law is turning 100 on May 4th. We had planned a big family celebration, but of course, that is on hold now. She is healthy and will likely live long enough for the much anticipated birthday party.

 

[SteveK]

My mother in law is turning 100 on May 4th. We had planned a big family celebration, but of course, that is on hold now. She is healthy and will likely live long enough for the much anticipated birthday party.

Terri, my wife's aunt turned 100 two years ago. She was healthy, still driving, and had an incredible memory, remembering hundreds of "kids" who she had been with when she led a cultural dance troupe for BYU. They came to honor her birthday. Unfortunately, she got the flu and the pneumonia the following year, and did not quite make it to 101. When we were there for her 100th, she took us to a building in Provo which used to be her family home, but now is a real estate agency. When she pointed out the room where she was born, 100 years prior, it gave me goosebumps.

 

[atlanta_man]

Another theory of the virus' action on the lungs:
http://web.archive.org/web/20200405...ht-have-finally-found-its-secret-91182386efcb

 

[Palouse]

OOPS:

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[atlanta_man]

Looks like they pulled it down. Bottom line, this paper claimed the HCQ drug works on Corona much like it does on malaria. Disables the attack on the red blood cells which carry O2.
Anyway, seems to me that the claims in that paper would be relatively easy for researchers to bunk or de-bunk fairly quickly.
There's also discussion of ventilator use.

try this:
http://web.archive.org/web/20200405...ht-have-finally-found-its-secret-91182386efcb