chemo will give her give her maybe another year. this is my first in-depth experience with our health care system, and i am more firmly convinced than ever that everything is driven by the almighty dollar. she's had no fewer than 4 doctors see her every day, inlcuding the admitting doctor who acknowledged he is no longer necessary. she entered the hospital with acute renal failure which they discovered was a sympton of invasive bladder cancer. renal failure taken care of, nephrologists still making daily rounds. now, she is on medicare and will soon qualify for medicaid, which is a blessing. that said, medicaid/medicare will spend untold thousands to keep a woman alive who will never go home. she will never return home, as not one of her children lives in her state. she will finish her days in a nursing home as she wasn't able to care for herself before this happened, (mentally or physically) and no treatment will change that. i should add that she can't move to another state as then she couldn't qualify for medicaid.
so, the oncologist immediately recommended chemo, which has my mother convinced that she can be cured. he recommended chemo because his office will of course administer the chemo. ching ching. she is 75, a life long smoker, most of her life she drank heavily, and had not seen a doctor in 4 years before this. she had had a triple bypass, has a very poor diet, and in general has never done anything to enhance her health.
her chance at a cure is 2%, and that would be for someone in optimal health. i am so conflicted about this......she is undergoing chemo thinking that her children will then leave her alone and allow her to go back to living in squalor, and to die completely alone. we are doing our best for her out of obligation, not really love.
i guess i just need to vent a bit, my husband doesn't understand my relationship with my other as he had a normal" family. and i am very disappointed in her choice, and in the encouragement form her doctors, who never speak plainly. i asked very specific questions, but my mother just allows things to happen to her, all the while saying what she thinks people want to hear so she can "get out".
this sucks.
so, the oncologist immediately recommended chemo, which has my mother convinced that she can be cured. he recommended chemo because his office will of course administer the chemo. ching ching. she is 75, a life long smoker, most of her life she drank heavily, and had not seen a doctor in 4 years before this. she had had a triple bypass, has a very poor diet, and in general has never done anything to enhance her health.
her chance at a cure is 2%, and that would be for someone in optimal health. i am so conflicted about this......she is undergoing chemo thinking that her children will then leave her alone and allow her to go back to living in squalor, and to die completely alone. we are doing our best for her out of obligation, not really love.
i guess i just need to vent a bit, my husband doesn't understand my relationship with my other as he had a normal" family. and i am very disappointed in her choice, and in the encouragement form her doctors, who never speak plainly. i asked very specific questions, but my mother just allows things to happen to her, all the while saying what she thinks people want to hear so she can "get out".
this sucks.