The Worst Way to Die

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TBV said:
TL;DR version?
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The worst way to die is exactly how most of us will- slowly, over months and years, in and out of a hospital, until we ultimately perish in an intensive care unit. And each and every one of us, in medicine, will play a part in putting someone (many, many someones for most of us) through that. Just some food for thought.
 
Mad Jack said:
The worst way to die is exactly how most of us will- slowly, over months and years, in and out of a hospital, until we ultimately perish in an intensive care unit. And each and every one of us, in medicine, will play a part in putting someone (many, many someones for most of us) through that. Just some food for thought.
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While I see what they're getting at. My vote goes for either gang butt raped to death or burned at the stake (assume consciousness for the duration of each)
 
@Mad Jack You're morbid.

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Wow, the German wikipedia says that Prussia used scaphism in 1770. Scary.
 
Mad Jack said:
The worst way to die is exactly how most of us will- slowly, over months and years, in and out of a hospital, until we ultimately perish in an intensive care unit. And each and every one of us, in medicine, will play a part in putting someone (many, many someones for most of us) through that. Just some food for thought.
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The PCPs should be talking about Code Status with all their patients since when I get them in the hospital, in an acute situation, its usually too much to process & they want everything done & so I have to "torture" them

Talk to your parents & grandparents & get that s@&! in writing
 
Cirrhosis seems like it would suck, copd also pretty bad, and of course let's not forget heart failure!
 
Mad Jack said:
Cancer is my personal least favorite.
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At least you can prevent hypokinetic disease/see it coming, in a lot of cases. I've never met a patient or known anyone who predicted they'd have cancer, probably lending a bit to the suckish-ness.
 
Mad Jack said:
The worst way to die is exactly how most of us will- slowly, over months and years, in and out of a hospital, until we ultimately perish in an intensive care unit. And each and every one of us, in medicine, will play a part in putting someone (many, many someones for most of us) through that. Just some food for thought.
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I actually don't think many healthcare personnel die that way. Most of us have seen enough to be very clear that once we start on that decline to not continue with medical therapies that just prolong the process (or at least we are all very good at talking about it now while in good health).

I feel very passionate about this topic. However, I've realized after many, many daunting family meetings that your average American will want and even push for EVERYTHING to be done for their "loved one," even when you explain that the best case scenario is life in a nursing home with essentially no quality.

So, I applaud your passion for this topic. Unfortunately, unless there is a systems change where certain patients don't qualify for certain therapies due to "futility," we will contribute to prolonging this painful process even if we don't want to.

Now, nephrology (think dialysis in demented patients living at a nursing home), neuro/neurosurg (only outcome is length of life, quality be damned) and oncology (living 3 months is a 33% improved survival compared to 2 months with aggressive chemo/rads/surgery without consideration for quality of life) are different stories. That, and a lot of us give up on trying to "protect" patients from suffering through "futile" treatments because we are tired of being looked at as the bad guys who want grandma to die.

I put futile in quotations because the current definition of futile only applies to unique cases with 100% mortality. Anything short of that becomes relative, and even if all doctors/nurses/janitors in the hospital agree that they would never agree to prolong life if it was them personally, you can't call it futile because you can't impose your values onto the patient/family.
 
I think Alzheimer's is the best. You don't know wtf is going on. That said I'd prefer a slow(er) death compared to a sudden death because I'd want my family to prepare for it and have it affect them less psychologically.
 
NontradCA said:
I think Alzheimer's is the best. You don't know wtf is going on. That said I'd prefer a slow(er) death compared to a sudden death because I'd want my family to prepare for it and have it affect them less psychologically.
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They know what's going on for a long, long time. My gramma has fairly advanced Alzheimer's and gets incredibly frustrated at what she can't do. She's also paranoid that my grandpa is cheating on her, or is a home invader, depending on the day. She can't tell night from day, read, or watch tv, so she's incredibly bored.

I'd say it's a fairly crappy way to go actually.
 
NontradCA said:
I think Alzheimer's is the best. You don't know wtf is going on. That said I'd prefer a slow(er) death compared to a sudden death because I'd want my family to prepare for it and have it affect them less psychologically.
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I think the trade-off of not seeing you suffer is worth it.
amichel said:
They know what's going on for a long, long time. My gramma has fairly advanced Alzheimer's and gets incredibly frustrated at what she can't do. She's also paranoid that my grandpa is cheating on her, or is a home invader, depending on the day. She can't tell night from day, read, or watch tv, so she's incredibly bored.

I'd say it's a fairly crappy way to go actually.
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Alzheimer's is rough. I'm all about the sudden death myself.
 
Mad Jack said:
The worst way to die is exactly how most of us will- slowly, over months and years, in and out of a hospital, until we ultimately perish in an intensive care unit. And each and every one of us, in medicine, will play a part in putting someone (many, many someones for most of us) through that. Just some food for thought.
Click to expand...
As lazymed notes, most physicians have different views on death than the general public, are more likely to have Advanced Directives and DNR orders.

This essay by Dr Ken Murray is worth reading: http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2011/11/30/how-doctors-die/ideas/nexus/

FWIW: I always thought locked in syndrome would be a bad way to go.
 
Winged Scapula said:
As lazymed notes, most physicians have different views on death than the general public, are more likely to have Advanced Directives and DNR orders.

This essay by Dr Ken Murray is worth reading: http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2011/11/30/how-doctors-die/ideas/nexus/

FWIW: I always thought locked in syndrome would be a bad way to go.
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By us, I didn't mean physicians, I meant the collective "us" of society. Us doctors and medical types just get to skip that because we're experienced enough to know what's what 😀 love the article btw
 
NontradCA said:
I think Alzheimer's is the best. You don't know wtf is going on. That said I'd prefer a slow(er) death compared to a sudden death because I'd want my family to prepare for it and have it affect them less psychologically.
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How about you start preparing your family now. You can promise them that you will die some day and they should keep that in the back of their mind and be ready for it when it happens. You clearly haven't seen what a slow painful death looks like. Otherwise you'd tell your family to suck it up and take the fast way out.

Yea- it would suck to die young and suddenly. I'll take that anytime over slowly debilitating death.
 
lazymed said:
How about you start preparing your family now. You can promise them that you will die some day and they should keep that in the back of their mind and be ready for it when it happens. You clearly haven't seen what a slow painful death looks like. Otherwise you'd tell your family to suck it up and take the fast way out.

Yea- it would suck to die young and suddenly. I'll take that anytime over slowly debilitating death.
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Lol. I don't know which is worse. The poster not picking up on facetiousness, or you pretending you know me.
 
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On a more philosophical note, there are far worse ways to die than the physical suffering that comes from torture, violent deaths, or chronic diseases.

There are people who would happily undergo scaphism a thousand times just for the chance to spend another hour with their loved one (the events in Paris come to mind).

The worst type of pain often comes from the mind, not the body.
 
If I am going to die, after every known measure to prevent, I am going ten thousand miles away from anyone that I know. And sit there.
 
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How do you guys accept the faith of death? I'll open up a bit here. I freak out when I think of my own death when it comes into my mind. I have been in CPR calls and gone to DOA's. One of my partners told me that it is wrong for me to be involve with EMS since we see death all the time, but during those calls I'm not scared of death. :shrug:
 
I'm glad I'm not the only morbid one. I used to think "If someone had told me I had 24 hours to live and then I would die but I could pick how... what method would I choose."

Set up a drip - sleep --> more sleep --> death
Or instant - A bomb directly at me please.

Least favorite way: Fire, drowning, beheaded, tortured
 
moisne said:
I'm glad I'm not the only morbid one. I used to think "If someone had told me I had 24 hours to live and then I would die but I could pick how... what method would I choose."

Set up a drip - sleep --> more sleep --> death
Or instant - A bomb directly at me please.

Least favorite way: Fire, drowning, beheaded, tortured
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Beheading is actually pretty benign. Looks gruesome, but relatively fine overall. Nukes would be a good way to go if you're in the blast zone. You literally wouldn't even know you were dead, just there one instant, gone the next.
 
O Grady said:
I remember a professor told us that oftentimes MI victims will feel like they need to void their bowels, and then they die there in the bathroom. So....yet another way that could happen.
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shoutout to Elvis
 
Locked in syndrome... At least even the most suck worthy torture/execution (brazen bull, scapism, immurement, being drawn and quartered) are relatively quick. That's in sharp contrast to years of being of full mental function, but only being able to blink... if you're lucky.

lazymed said:
I actually don't think many healthcare personnel die that way. Most of us have seen enough to be very clear that once we start on that decline to not continue with medical therapies that just prolong the process (or at least we are all very good at talking about it now while in good health).
Click to expand...


I just got to diagnose a retired RN with stage 4 cancer. Even before oncology had seen her she was asking for a hospice consult and the DNR form.
 
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