My uncle is critical..should we put him ventilator? need info urgently..Help!?

doctor says he is in adv. stage of lung cancer. He is 85 years old. 2 days ago, he had a severe bout of coughing/breathlessness and everyone around almost gave up hope. thankfully, he has recovered a bit but still breathing is very uneasy for him. He seems to be under strain and is very tired.

We are not able to decide whether to put him in ventilator as doctor is not saying clearly how much risk it is. some say that once patient is on ventilator, then if it is removed, it is very risky for the patient. Is it true???

Currently he looks so exhausted, we want to do the best thing for him to make it as painfree as possible. please share any info you have on this..will be very very grateful!
Thanks!

You have to think about what your uncle's wishes are. If he's in advanced lung cancer, putting him on a vent is not going to make his problems go away. the other issue with putting him on a vent in his state is when to take him off. He may not be able to come off. Many people can live on a vent for a long time and the decision to take a person off a vent is often more painful than whether to put one on. The decision your faced with is a very personal one, I personally would rather be comfortable and let nature take it's course. My prayers are with you and your family.

Maybe your uncle can't get enough air due to the cancer. It may help him. If you want other help than what you can get here, see if there is a hospice <end of life> doctor who can see him first. I know that morphine can help some patients breathe more easily. I don't know about your uncle. Hospice doctors are the most skilled in pain control and end of life issues, in my experience.

I am sorry about your uncle. My mother died of lung cancer at age 60. My mother-in-law died of it at age 76. I hope that you can keep him comfortable. Hospice facilities keep people more comfortable, from what I have seen, but maybe you don't have one where you are.

At his age and stage of cancer its a good possibility that he will never get off a ventilator. I would say comfort measures only ie pain meds, 02 (not ventilated) and let him live the rest of his days comfortably. The ventilator will only prolong his painful disease process.

Is your uncle able to make his own decisions known? If possible you should ask him what he wants to do. If he is unable to communicate, does he have an Advance Directive?
Does anyone in the family know his wishes? Where would your uncle be most comfortable? It may be possible to bring in Hospice for help and counsel. Ask about this.

This can be a difficult decision. I understand because we too were faced with this. Fortunately my sons tumors were not causing the breathing problems. Turned out he had an embulism in his lung. So a blood thinner did the trick and we never needed to put him on a ventilator. It was scary and tough for a while though.

Read through this information about hospice:

Hospice.net
http://www.hospicenet.org/

Hospice Foundation
http://www.hospicefoundation.org/

National Hospice
http://www.nhpco.org

Peace to you.

i understand your feelings, I've handle such condition already. when relatives asked such question, we asked them to talk heart to heart to doctors.these are some considerations when you decided to sign in a "DO NOT RESUSCITATE", first is there a chance for that person to recover again after giving life support such as ventilation? otherwise he will more suffer and in more hard situation.. its very traumatic and very painful for a patient having ventilation. Second the financial status. Sometimes its not bad to be realistic and practical. Just pray and ask guidance to God. Sometimes were trying to save and do everything to prolong life but in fact were just adding more pains.Hope God will give you wisdom to think.

Oh, wow. I feel for you and your family. My uncle died of lung cancer two years ago. He lived two months after he was diagnosed. He was able to stay at home, and breathed with the help of oxygen tanks that were delivered to his house. He was getting chemo up to his very last day. He was able to walk (albeit, very slowly) until his last day and that was when he had extreme difficulty breathing. He never got to the point where you are, so no one had to make that decision, but he had made it clear that he didn't want anything mechanical done to prolong his life and prolong the misery. While we didn't want him to die, we didn't want him to suffer anymore either. Lung cancer made it so that he couldn't do the things he wanted to do, and just sitting around did not bring him any happiness. He was ready to go at the end of 2 months of illness with the lung cancer. His cancer had spread to his brain, also. I hope you and your family and ask him what he wants, and if he's so sick that he can't speak, I hope someone knows if he would want his life prolonged if there's no quality of life. If there's no joy anymore, why put him on a ventilator? Who does this serve? Let nature takes its course since there is no cure to lung cancer. Bless you all. I know how hard it is to see cancer take the lives of loved ones. It's a terrible disease.

Very tough decisions..Can he make any of the choice. Ultimately, he is the one that has to endure the pain, the benefit, and the consequence. If he not able to talk anymore, did he mention before that he wanted nothing done to make it last longer? The docotr can only give you the percentages , he would be out of line to suggest you prolong, or shorten the life of your uncle. My father went on the ventilator, it made him more comfortable to the end, but I don't know if he wanted it or not . I did it because it made me feel better. Looking back, he may have not wanted the extra 3 days it gave him. My heart goes out to you.

All i can say is I were your uncle, I would want to be let go peacefully. 85 is way beyond an average lifespan, and he still has the cancer to fight.