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Wednesday, February 12, 2003His case is a rare one, to be sure, but the dilemma is a common one. Where do you draw the line of hopelessness? It’s easy when the patient has a terminal illness like cancer, or a heart so damaged that it barely pumps the blood. But it’s much more difficult in the elderly person with a chronic illness. How can you tell when the emphysema exacerbation or pneumonia in an 85 year old is the final illness or one from which she’ll rebound? It’s a tough call, and it makes the interpretation of do not resuscitate orders difficult, both for the physician and for the patient. posted by Sydney on 2/12/2003 07:18:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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