Six months to live - should the person be told?

[pumba]

I thought that with the new privacy act.....that no one is allowed to do this unless of course the patient in question is not aware of his surroundings or what is going on too......my husband was in a drug induced coma and I had the right to decide what was going on and signing for treatment .......but when he came to .....it was back in his ballpark....
YES I would want to know what is going on and if I decided to NOT TELL my family that I had only so long to live........it would be my decision not theres..

 

[Towncrier]

A similar situation occured with my wife's uncle Ed. He went to the hospital to have a section of his bowel removed, but during the operation, they discovered that he was full of cancer. His doctor told Sue's aunt (and the rest of us) not to tell Ed that he was terminal. At least not until he got better. That was the hardest secret of all to keep. Ed recovered enough that eventually he was told that he had only a very few months to live. My personal feeling was that he should have known from the start and that it was cruel to lead him on. He was cheated out of those weeks where he could have contacted more friends and family and arranged to say goodbye.

My wife and I promised each other that we would NEVER withhold that sort of information from the other should the situation arise. As bad as it is to have a terminal disease, I feel that it is worse not to be told.

 

[drgnfly30]

I would want to know... on the other hand I truely believe that when my dad was dying from brain cancer the Drs. told him & Dad, for some reason, didn't tell the rest of us...

 

[Catzeyes]

I would be so angry if I was not told. I would want to do things and say my goodbyes.

 

[goodeats]

Of course I would want to know. I'd quit my job, go to Paris, go to WDW, etc.

I can't imagine anybody NOT wanting to know. I suppose if you're already retired and doing what you want to do anyway. But even then you'd think they'd want to splurge since they won't need the long term retirement account anymore.

 

[Caropooh]

I guess it would depend on if I already knew I had a terminal illness or not. I would want to know if I was terminally ill, but not necessarily want to know how long I had.
You hear of people who are told they only have 6 months to live, and then live their lifes just for those 6 months. I would rather believe I'm going to live longer and plan things in the future rather than be depressed about all the things I won't be able to do.

 

[DawnCt1]

I can't imagine any competent adult NOT being told about their prognosis. On the other hand, there is a way to tell people so that they don't abandon home completely. When my mother was told that she was terminally ill, her oncologist framed it in the context of, "there are very few treatment options available for you at this time". That usually invites more questions, so as how long? Rather than say "you have six months to live", a better approach is to frame it in an expanse of time; "pt's with your condition usually live 6 months to two years for example". As pts get closer to the end, they know. If the door has been opened initially, they feel more free to talk about it. Not everyone does however. Some chose to remain in denial to the very end and I guess that's their choice.

 

[MamaLema]

I would want to know.

Maybe he has something he needs to do or a wish to visit somewhere that no one knows about.

 

[drayke]

My uncle had six months to live - six months ago. The doctor told his wife and she decided not to tell him or anyone else. Now it seems that the end is near so everyone knows - except him. I remember thinking that if I had an illness that was terminal, would I want to know. On one hand, I may want to do some things that I would have otherwise put off. On the other hand, would I want to spend my final months possibly angry and depressed? I'm not sure which side I'm on. Fortunately, my family doesn't seem too upset that my uncle's wife didn't inform anyone. How would you feel?

Is your Uncle incompetent and thus unable to make his own decesions? If the doctor hasn't told him how is he able to give informed consent on his medical treatment and decide on his end of life choices? If the individual is competent, then not giving the truth of the situation is terrably cruel and controlling.

 

[CajunDixie]

The fact that he allowed her to stay for any PHI discussions is his consent for her to be privy to PHI information.

There is a difference in being privy to medical information and denying information to the patient. And making decisions for the patient. I wouldn't mind my parents knowing my medical information but I would not want them to be able to deny my knowing about my own health nor make any of the decisions. I think we all learned a lesson after the Terry Schiavo case.

I personally would want to know. Why would I want to waste precious time?

 

[princesspumpkin]

I guess it would depend on if I already knew I had a terminal illness or not. I would want to know if I was terminally ill, but not necessarily want to know how long I had.
You hear of people who are told they only have 6 months to live, and then live their lifes just for those 6 months. I would rather believe I'm going to live longer and plan things in the future rather than be depressed about all the things I won't be able to do.

That's is exactly the case. He knew that he had terminal cancer, but didn't know that he was diagnosed with only 6 months to live. I know that a person's state of mind can affect ther physical condition, so maybe knowing that they only had a few months to live would hasten their death.