Silverwalk Hermitage

Allie Mae lives at the vet’s on IVs currently.  Her time is still limited by days or months but no longer by hours as I feared.   Thanks be to God.

Allie Mae

Just as the caterpillar thought all was lost, she became a butterfly.

When does one call it quits?  When does one look at a dog or a human, note the loss of quality of life and say, enough?  Such a difficult and heart-wrenching decision.  My parents made it easy for us four children – they were very clear about end of life heroics, feeding tubes and ventilators simply to keep their bodies functioning.  I am blessed with siblings in agreement; no hold-outs, no let’s do more.  I am the nurse in the family with a nurse sister-in-law whose father and two brothers are physicians.  We have resources welcome to us in these people and their expertise and compassion.   As each of my parents reached the point of no-return, we discussed, we prayed and we let them go to God in peace and without pain.   My sister ran into one physician who equated hospice or compassionate, end-of-life care to euthanasia.   Thankfully for her, she had developed a relationship with the hospital chaplain.  When she shared this comment to him, he asked if he could follow-up as it was quite inappropriate.   We all knew our parents loved us as they knew we loved them.  This was crucial to us.  Just because medicine thinks it can do more doesn’t mean it should.

Currently, I am waiting through the last hours of one of my rescue dogs.  She may pull through; I am wondering how far to push her.  I had her at the ER vet last night till past midnight (well, this morning then!).   She won’t eat but what I really noticed yesterday were her white gums; they didn’t blanche one bit.  Then I saw bleeding at the base of one of her wounds – a large pocket – and decided not to wait for my appt. today.  I am not making her eat today; she cannot stand though her eyes are still bright.  Her lab-work indicates bleeding somewhere – it is so low and her liver enzymes are higher than last week.  I gave her a pain med last night this morning prying her mouth apart with more force than when I previously force-fed her.  She is an old dog, here for a year after being turned into our local humane society. They called me ASAP – no way did they want to put this gentle, old dog into their population.  She has been a delight and a bossy dog ever since.  Is it time to say Godspeed?  I fear so.

My dad had no appetite near his end; neither does Allie Mae, this dog.  My mom, realizing she actually was in the process of dying, rued ordering and eating carrots for lunch instead of something more fun and palatable.  She gave my sister quite the laugh .  As believers, we know end of life on this earth is but entering a chrysalis to emerge in our new/renewed bodies with our Lord.   I, for one, reading multiple Scriptures of God’s concern for animals as well as humankind, believe our animals join us in the Heavenly Chorus.

Dear friends, I am not saying ventilators and intensive care are over-board; it is where I work and see many people recover from injuries and illnesses with such care.  I do know we as a society are tending to the view medicine can fix everything. God has numbered our days; we need to respect length of days, whether they be short or long, and be ready to give up our loved ones to God, having fought the good fight in His name.

Related articles

• Medical Care Planning at the End of Life (raymondolivercruz.wordpress.com)
• A Question of Ethics (notthedestinationbut.wordpress.com)