Hi,
Does anyone one know if medically PD or any dialysis is considered “extraordinary life-sustaining treatment”?
Thanks in advance,
Cfourhorses
Dialysis may be considered a pretty ordinary means to live when someone is doing well and gets more benefits out of life than having to endure burdens. However, dialysis can sometimes become an extraordinary means of sustaining life when its burdens and burdens of other health conditions exceed its benefits. Everyone knows that kidney failure without treatment is fatal. Therefore, most organized religions consider withdrawal from dialysis (or not starting dialysis) as allowing nature to take its course and do not consider foregoing treatment as suicide.
You may want to look at this summary of the guidelines on withdrawing and withholding treatment that were developed by the Renal Physicians Association and the American Society of Nephrology.
http://www.promotingexcellence.org/esrd/index.html
Thank you. My husband is suffering from a condition that could take his life. If that indeed did occur I would not be able to handle the mentally handicapped fellow we care for on PD. He has been with us since 1984. He was on hemo dialysis for 10 + years and was banned from the facility, hospital, for aggressive behavior and we sought out a facility that would try the PD with him. In Oct. he had a small stroke. He is pretty much back to where he was but not as strong when he attacks us 
Still he is so attached to my husband during my husbands illness I have had to sedate our habicapped man at times just to hook him up so I am not attacked. Without my husband I could not live like this, I would never be able to leave the house and trying to control him would be nearly impossible. The local police chief is afraid of him. We are the fellows guardians and in March the state ruled that guardians of the MR can make life and death decisons for their charge and can stop extreme life sustaining treatment. I was just wondering if PD would fall into that catagory.
The caseworker said that if my husband passed away and our man became an emergency he could be taken to a hospital far away to live. The Nephrologist said this fellow is on borrowed time I could not see our man being happy or compliant living out his life in a hospital setting, he would be sedated almost all the time until he died. I do not think at all he would desire such an exsitance. He is not a canidate for a transplant because of all his medical problems. He has a full life now with a day program, a family, pets and horses. It may sound harsh but my husband and I really do not think the hospital life would be a comfort or in his best interest, this fellow would be lost and he would be too far for me to visit him realistically. We really do not think he would thrive.
Hopefully my husband will survive his illness…
Thank you,
Cfourhorses
From all you’ve written, you and your husband deserve sainthood.
Does the man you’re caring for have a court-appointed guardian ad litem? If so, this person should be involved in decision making as well. Does he have a psychiatrist who is seeing him to provide medications to help control his behavior? Is there a day treatment setting that he could go to so you would have some time to devote to your husband and his illness and get some rest yourself?
It sounds to me like you need to ask the kidney doctor and dialysis team for a care planning meeting to discuss all your options and what other resources may be available to help you care for the patient and for your husband as well as taking care of yourself. If you don’t take care of you, where will everyone else be?
Please give your husband our well wishes for a speedy recovery.
Hi,
My husband and I are court appointed guardians. Because of our handicapped man’s dialysis there is no respite available to us, have checked through his case worker extensively. We could never afford private pay. He does go to day treatment for 5 hours Mon.-Fri. IF he is in the mood to go.
He saw a phyciatrist once, but he is far away & could not suggest much. Our man is non verbal. His nuerologist sees him for his behavior and seizure meds. The nuerologist has been a champion for this man and us. The Nephrologist and PD nurses are very supportive and understand our thoughts about this matter. They actually agree with us.
My husband is not out of the woods yet, as we were told Fri., but the pulmenary embolism is shrinking. Once he gets through the PE then we will get back to his 2nd cancer surgery. thank you for all your help. I will give my husband your well wishhes