He was unnaturally floppy from the time of his birth, too weak to breathe on his own. We intubated him, brought him to the ICU, set his lines and tried to find out why.
Extensive investigations yielded only more uncertainty. An unidentified muscle disorder.
He stayed for months. Eventually, there was talk of pulling out the tube.
“But we don’t have a diagnosis yet. It’s premature. You can’t withdraw care now.”
They tried to convince me that it was best. If one team member objects, an ethics committee must convene. I could not agree. You can’t give up on this baby.
The ethics committee agreed to proceed with withdrawal of care. A date was set. That morning, I went about my rounds with a heavy heart. Someone else removed the tube. My consultant called me into her room.
“How are you?”
I’m fine. Part of the job. I broke down and sobbed in her arms.
She went out to check on the baby some time later. A subdued furore had broken out.
“He’s still breathing!”
They brought him to the bereavement room, and his parents held him in their arms. They fed him some milk through a nasogastric tube.
He lived for two weeks before his little eyes closed for the last time.
Man can pull out the tube, but only God decides when we will return to Him.
~ by Dr Alison Snodgrass
Dr’s Blog is a feature of the CMG web site that aims to encourage interaction between Guild members. We hope to foster a spirit of community through the sharing of thoughts and personal experirences. The opinions expressed in these blogs are entirely those of the contributors and not of the Catholic Medical Guild of Singapore.
Interested in contributing articles to the Doctor’s Blog? Send us your contributions in word document to cmgsingapore@yahoo.com.sg
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2014 Dec: A Prayer for Deliverance 2
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