Extremis The documentary Extremis by Dan Krauss was very interesting to me since I am working towards a degree in healthcare. With the setting being in the intensive care unit of a hospital the patients are very near death. Two doctors are working with the patients who are mainly filmed who are Donna and Selena. Donna is on life support with a breathing tube, but is partially breathing on her own and is able to communicate. Selena is fully on life support and is not able to communicate. The doctors are struggling to make the right decisions to keep the families of the patients happy and the patient comfortable. After watching the documentary, you can really notice the forms of tragedy, synesthesia, and bildungsroman in the film taking …show more content…
Having to make life or death decisions is very stressful as you would see in the film. Also making the decision for your loved one you have to realize, you are not the patient. You may or may not know what the person’s decision would be to live off a machine or not. When you have to some to a situation like that look at the facts, their health and their life expectancy if a certain treatment is done. It’s hard for families to understand that because they do not want to lose their loved one, they would rather them be on a machine like a vegetable to keep them alive. They may not know that person is suffering. It is time to let them pass naturally and comfortably surrounded by their family with the best medical treatment possible that has been given to them. After watching the documentary, you can really notice the forms of tragedy, synesthesia, and bildungsroman in the film taking place in the lives of the patients and the medical specialist. I enjoyed watching the documentary because I have been in both the patients and family’s situation before. Having to put all your trust into someone for them to make the best medical treatment option for you is very upsetting, especially if they choose the wrong option. Being in the family’s situation it is stressful not knowing what that patient wants, instead you choose what you want for them. But in my opinion is what the doctors can do based on your health is the
Terminally ill patients deserve the right to have a dignified death. These patients should not be forced to suffer and be in agony their lasting days. The terminally ill should have this choice, because it is the only way to end their excruciating pain. These patients don’t have
According to a doctor in the documentary, people are coming to the ICU’s to die. (Lyman et al, 2011) Due to the fact that technology to sustain life is available the decision to end life has become much more complicated yet more people die in hospitals then anywhere else. (Lyman et al, 2011) The story of Marthe the 86 year old dementia patient stood out to me upon viewing the documentary because I recently just had my great grandmother go through the same situation. (Lyman et al, 2011) Marthe entered the ICU and was intubated for two weeks while her family members decided whether to perform a tracheotomy or take her off life support. (Lyman et al, 2011) The family was having a tough time deciding due to the fact that the doctors could sustain Marthe’s life if they requested it. Marthe ended up being taken off the ventilator and to everyone’s surprise was able to breathe but, a day later she could no longer do so and now she has been on life support for a year. (Lyman et al, 2011) Another patient that I took particular interest in was John Moloney a 53 year old multiple myeloma patient who has tried every form of treatment with no success. (Lyman et al, 2011) Despite trying everything he still wanted treatment so he could live and go home with his family but ended up in
Ken Berger believes that Life Support for elderly patient isn’t benefiting them and is actually causing more harm to them. According to the “Dying on life support: is it fair? Article The Author Dr. Berger states in most cases when the end is near should doctors prolong life artificially? Dr. Berger the medical doctor at the Bellevue Hospital in New York City states how patients that are on life support in the intensive care unit are not showing signs of likelihood of surviving. A very well-known patients of Dr. Berger who is severely ill and he isn’t showing any signs of getting better but actually is showing signs of his body getting ill (Leung n.p). By law Dr. Berger must keep him alive which, he isn’t very pleased about it because he finds it very useful for the staff and also for the
Increasingly, people know from their own experience some painful dilemmas involving elderly or handicapped individuals who are in pain. While the achievements of modern medicine have been used to prolong and enhance life for many, they have also helped create an often dreaded context for dying. Costly technology may keep persons alive, but frequently these persons are cut off from meaningful relationships with others and exist with little or no hope for recovery. Many fearfully imagine a situation at the end of their lives where they or their trusted ones will have no say in decisions about their treatment.
In A Tender Hand in the Presence of Death, Heather, the nurse, would put in IVs and feeding tubes in hopes of prolonging hospice care even when they were ineffective in order to give more time to the families who were having trouble letting go (MacFarquhar, 2016). In my personal situation, I can relate, as two of my grandparents have passed away from cancer and suffered for a long time before passing. Although it was incredibly sad and our families bargained for more time, there was some peace in knowing that the suffering had come to an end once they passed. For our own selfish reasons, we want as much time as possible with our loved ones who are suffering and close to death, but in reality, the decision for assisted suicide should only concern the individual whose life it
The system does not want patients to die, but it does not want the to get better either. The aim is to just treat the symptoms of the disease, rather than treating the actual disease so the patients will keep coming back and the health care centers and pharmaceutical companies can continue to make money. Hospitals and other related health care centers have become solely focused on making a profit. The pharmaceutical companies incentivize the physicians to prescribe their drugs rather than carefully considering all possible treatment plans and choosing which would most benefit the patient. Furthermore, doctors are over scheduled with patients. They are paid for quantity of patients seen rather than quality of care provided. In the video, it mentioned that the female doctor was being scheduled for 30 patients per hour, meaning that she had two minutes each patient on average. This is not enough time for doctors, nurses, or any other health care provider to make sound decisions, let alone perform a thorough assessment of the patient. Although hospitals are a business and the business aspects needs to be successful in order to keep the doors open, I think it is ethical and morally wrong to be making such a profit off of patients by greatly inflating the costs. I believe that access to health care should be a right, not a
Though there are several patients featured, the story centers around Cody Curtis, a woman who was diagnosed with liver cancer. At 56, she is a beautiful woman who doesn’t appear to be sick. She seems healthy and happy. However she is in constant pain and is suffering greatly. She is given a diagnosis of only six months left to live and sets a date to choose to die. She has complete control over when she will die. She can make peace with those around her and complete her life before she dies. She says that death with dignity won’t be easy, but it would be easier than the alternatives. However, she outlives her diagnosis and her quality of life continues to improve. When things take a turn for the worst, she decides to end her
Moving forward, people should be able to be put out of their misery of their terminal illness. This is something that without a doubt will tear a person to shreds. This type of news, “can trigger feelings of depression, in both patient and loved one. These feelings can be severe or mild and can often be just one of the stages that a person goes through when learning of catastrophic news” (Terminal Illness). Some terminal illnesses this time is also very stressful with decisions that one can make. Although depending on what the patient has, the illness can be brutal and
Just as we witness life, we must witness death. It is neither defeat nor failure, but a normal process in life. It is always devastating for the patients and their family members to be given a diagnosis of terminal illness, with the feeling of hopelessness as there is nothing more that can be done. It’s not totally true! No matter how big or small the intervention is, there is always something that can be done. And oftenly, it is the little things that make a huge difference to the patients and their family
‘Being Mortal’ was a fascinating read about a young man who grows in the understanding of death and dying and what matters most in the end. We all have constraints and no matter how well we take care of ourselves and live our life, death comes to us all; and how we meet that end can be very different depending on how we want to spend the last moments of our journey. Medical science has its power and pushes the boundaries of life and death, but it can’t always save you, it won’t always work out the way that you hope it does. Doctors like Atul Gawande struggle to fix everyone’s problem and cure the patients who come into the hospital; but as the book progresses Atul finds that there are ways to handle patients’ lives and it doesn’t always involve
It seemed to be extremely difficult for these patients to be seen by the doctor, let alone get proper long-term treatment. The documentary revealed many instances of short- treatments like pain killers or other medications which resulted in the need for patients to come back for more. One of the patients said that a doctor was supposed to follow up with him regarding treatment for his condition, but one of the workers informed him that it could take over a month for them to get back to him. That was a part of the film that I did not like because many of these patients do not receive the sense of urgency that they would receive at a private doctor. Although the emergency room treats hundreds of people a day, they are still real people who suffer with real pain and obstacles, and it is hard for them to feel like they are being pushed under the rug after being in the waiting room for hours on
The PBS Frontline documentary Being Mortal focuses on doctors and their patients who are dealing with chronic illness and nearing the end of their life. It investigates how some doctors are ill-equipped to talk about chronic illness and death with their patients and how this can lead to a lesser quality of life at the end of life stage for patients. In this documentary, we followed Dr. Atul Gawade on his journey to educate himself and others about the difficult emotional aspects of dying. The director, Thomas Jennings, along with Dr. Gawade, created a fantastic documentary about how it is important for doctors to talk to dying patients about their mortality. This was effectively done by offering experiences and interviews from doctors and their patients, by following the declining path of the patient, and by showing the real life emotion of the patients, families and doctors working through to the end.
It is clear that in order for survival potential, the body must have the capacity to heal. I believe that such technology interfere with nature and immoral. Brain dead patients on life support only prolong the dying process. This possibly prolongs their suffrage too. Most family members rather have a pleasant memory during the process of death. Its involve numerous emotions, but I prefer a peaceful death. Most of us believe that all effort should be made to preserve life, but unfortunately not in the case of brain death. As humans being, the right to live is part of the basic needs, but we want to live healthy or at least be aware of our surroundings. Every humans being deserve all the best quality in life. No one wants to see their love ones through the process of dying, that’s one of the reasons we should stay strong and make it easier not only for them but for us
The movie Sicko evaluates the medical services and shows the U.S. government 's role in policing the medical profession. Before I watched this movie, I thought that living in America was living the American dream. However, this American dream is only a façade or an illusion that takes my mind away from some of America 's flaws. In this documentary, the director and writer Michael Moore exposes the dysfunctional health care system in the United States, which sacrifice essential health services in order to maximize profits and insurance companies, which pay bonuses to employees who are successful in denying coverage and claims. They are in the business of finding reasons not to spend money. Health insurance does not protect you from not paying.
In today’s society we all try to prolong life as long as possible. Technology is finding new ways that we can stay healthier and lead productive lives longer. Governor Lamm said “we should be careful in terms of our technological miracles that we don’t impose life on people who, in fact, are suffering beyond our ability to help”(Collins,1991,p.540). That is the real issue at hand; are we in fact over stepping our boundaries by keeping people alive who are maybe beyond our help. “Machines can extend the length but not always the quality of life” (Cloud,2000,p.62). As doctors, they need to think about the well being of the patient and if any methods could really help the situation.