- aTALLmidget
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- Noble Legendary Member
Yes, a few months ago my cousin passed away. Our cousin was mentally and physically disabled and we (being my family and I) were his caretakers and so he lived with us. Prior to this he was admitted to the hospital for developing skin sores as he was old and growing weaker (in his 60s) and has been confined to a wheel chair for his entire life. After taking time in the hospital he was released into care of a nursing home for quite a few months, I don't remember how many exactly... Anyhow, while at the nursing home they didn't train him physically so he became entirely bedridden and so when he returned back home he remained in his bedroom all day listening to music (thankfully his ultimate pleasure).
Well, he developed a bad stomach infection which required major surgery to fix... But it was risky, and even if it worked, his quality of life would decrease, and it was already low by being sick and bedridden and needing complete assistance with everything. My cousin was always against surgery of any kind, even to having skin graphs made for his sores. He said no, which meant the infection would most likely kill him unless by a miracle his body would heal itself.
He had been taken to the hospital to determine this but wished to come home and die with us. We prepped for it and had all the equipment ready for his room so he would die in peace and without pain, but before they could transport him, his blood pressure dropped too low and so they couldn't allow transport. He stayed in the hospital for two more weeks on morphine drip until we got the call he was passing.
It was the hardest thing I've ever watched in my life... My cousin lying in bed, unresponsive, pale as a ghost and gasping for breathes in patterns of 3 or 4 breathes every 20 seconds. This was slow and terrible, until he finally and (literally) fluttered his final breathe an hour later and simply lay there.
The nurse said she would call the doctor to confirm, but I couldn't take it. We all knew it, so I left and walked home by myself, breaking down after I got out of the elevator. The thing that hits hardest about it is before he passed he told me he'd like to hear me play piano again (I play piano and would play for him) and would really like to listen. I never got that chance again.