Ken,

Can your mother communicate her wishes on this?  What about asking her in yes/no form?  Does she have a living will?

My mother let us know long before the last stage of her illness that she did not want a feeding tube or an atificial ventilator.  Hospice is a wonderful resource in cases like these.

Kat


Subject: a peg tube for mom?


we are going to consider a feeding tube for my mom who
has dimenchea from parkingson's. she was put on a
liquid diet from pureed food after asperating. she is
still at the hospital with pneumonia. assuming that
she does not get worse from that when she goes back to
the nursing home, it is wanted to have the tube in. my
brothers, sisaters and i will be meeting to discuss
it. from my research, it is not that cut and dried.
mortality is 22 % within 30 days. i am looking
at
http://www.virginiageriatrics.org/consult/peg_tube_decisions/pegtubedecision
s.html
. this is virginia commonwelth universities website on
the subject.
  any input from the professionals on the list or
anybody with experience?
>