Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Tube Feeding procedure

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-04-2010, 11:51 AM:

As I had mentioned on a thread at the Afterlife Forum, my 91 year old mother is in a hospital in a very serious condition with pneumonia, dehydration and being severely in a malnutrition condition because of forced feeding due to her refusal to eat and drink caused by dementia she has had for over five years. She also went to the hospital wIth a severe blood infection and almost passed away on Tuesday when her blood pressure suddenly dropped to double digit. She is now in a stable condition and all of her vitals are very stable. She is also responding very well to all of her medication and her doctors feel good about her recovery. There is however one problem and it is her refusal to eat and drink. Feeding her by normal means is now out of the question due to the possibility of aspiration and the only other option we have is to her her fed through a tube in her abdomen. The doctor who does the procedure examined her yesterday and noticed she is breading through her mouth due to pneumonia and said if she cannot do it through her nose, there will be a problem and a very high risk. My advise to my brother and my sister is to wait until her pneumonia is gone and then proceed when she will be breading normally again.

If any of you have or had loved ones that had such a procedure performed on them, I would appreciate your feedback very much. Most especially if it was done under a similar situation as my mother.

-Claude

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 02-04-2010, 02:45 PM:

My Grandmother was malnourished due to an inability to consume enough calories daily. (She forced herself to eat only tiny amounts of food her entire life and by the time she was in her late 70's she could not break the psychological block on eating) The doctors said that if they did not put a feeding tube in she would die. She went in for this procedure and was supposed to be released the same day. They decided to keep her overnight because during the procedure fluid got into her lung (how I do not know) During the night her breathing got worse and finally they wanted to intibate (sp?) her and put her ona respirator. She refused. She passed away a few hours later.

Claude,

I am not telling you my experience to scare you only so that you and anyone else realizes that even simple procedures can have consequences. I regret that I did not visit her in the hospital but they told us that it was no big deal and she would be home the next day. I never had an opportunity to say goodbye and tell her that I loved her. So if a loved one is going in for even a minor procedure make sure you take the chance to tell them that you love them.

Good luck with your Mother Claude. I hope everything turns out well. My Grandfather had Dementia which became apparent after my Grandmother passed (she had been "covering" for him for a few years) and it was very tough and painful to see a once proud man who served his country, community, and family, Someone I loved become a person you don't recognize and who doesn't recognize you.

I am not very religous but I will say a small prayer for you and your Mother Claude, and keep you in my thoughts.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-04-2010, 04:22 PM:

Dear Sean,

Thank you for your very kind words. A lot has happened since this morning when i wrote about my mother and her serious condition. First of all Dr Bruce Humber , her physician here at the Hawaii Medical Centre had informed me that Dr. Miyagi the surgeon that does the tube procedure is not too excited about doing that for my mother due to her advance age and the severity of mer current medical condition including her pneumonia. With this in mind, I called and spoke to her speech therapist at her nursing home and Elizabeth told me they will work with my sister and me to make sure she is properly fed and receive all of the required daily nourishment and liquids that she need when she return to the home after she is discharged. After this discussion, my sister, brother and I decided not to go through with the procedure and allow the speech therapist Ka Punawai Ola to safely oversee her daily food and beverage intake. Arriving at this decision is a comfortable one for Arlene, Lester and me because we will have our mother for as long as possible but if we gambled and ordered to feeding tube procedure to be performed in a few days, we can lose her at that time. The risk is too great and is something we do not want to take.

-Claude

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 02-04-2010, 05:06 PM:

I am very happy to hear you were able to take advantage of another option. I am sure however that if you had or have to go that route in the future you may have a better experience than I did. I don't want anyone to be discouraged from life saving treatment because it did not work out for my Grandmother.

It sounds like your Mother has a very loving, and caring family around her and that I think is one of the most important things to recovery from illness.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-08-2010, 12:44 PM:

The only good thing about my mother's passing yesterday was the stomach feeding procedure we were considering for her suddenly became unnecessary with her death.
Even if she had not died and recovered, my sister, brother and I had decided not to go through with tube feeding due to the surgical risk and how miserable my mother would have been if she had to be fed through her stomach for the rest of her life. The decision was easy to make because her speech therapist at the nursing home had assured us she will make sure Mama was fed with food prepared especially for her condition that made us consider the tube feeding procedure. Thank God, Mama left us with her dignity still intact.

-Claude

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 02-08-2010, 01:39 PM:

Claude,

I am very sorry for your loss. I am glad you can take some solice in the fact that your Mother was spared an uncomfortable quality of life altering procedure. I will keep you, and your Mother in my thoughts.

Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 02-08-2010, 01:48 PM:

Claude,

I, too, am very sorry for your loss!

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-08-2010, 11:23 PM:

Claude, I'm very sorry to hear of your mother's passing. Having just lost my dad last summer, I know how hard it is to lose a parent. Cherish those memories -- I'll bet you have lots of great pictures!

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 02-09-2010, 05:02 AM:

Claude,
Sorry to hear about the loss of your mother... As you said, she left with her dignity in tact and you and your siblings did not have to pursue the surgery, and it's associated risks...

Thoughts and prayers from Myrtle Beach...

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-09-2010, 10:28 PM:

Once again, thank you, everyone for your kind words. a nice Buddhist funeral service was scheduled for Mama on the 25th of February at 10:00 in the morning today, Her ashes along with those of my father who died about twelve years ago will be buried along with my father's parents, her mother and a brother who died at childbirth as well as a few other Ayakawa uncles and aunts. My sister Arlene and I will eventually join them in time.

-Claufr