R/parenting, I need your help... My wife has had a serious illness for 10+ years and is periodically hospitalized. When talking with our daughters, she’s always brushed off her hospital visits so our daughters don’t worry much about the next one. Well she’s in the hospital again but it’s much more serious this time. She’s currently unresponsive and on life support - lack of O2 to the brain for an extended time. We’re still waiting for more info from the doctors, but the test results look very bad. Every conversation with the hospital staff starts with questions about her wishes re: resuscitation and whether to pursue quality of life (pain meds) vs life extension. Palliative and hospice staff keep checking in.Our daughters (16 and 9) haven’t been to the hospital to see her yet (they know she has the flu and needs to rest in the hospital). I want to take them to see her today, but I need to prep them for what they will see (eg, ventilator) and explain that she’s still “sleeping”. I don’t think I will share the prognosis yet as there’s still a lot of uncertainty and it will create a lot of worry and stress. I would really appreciate advice from people who have been through something similar (or have relevant training). Good and bad experiences (what to do and not to do) will be helpful.Because the doctors keep raising the question about life support and life saving measures, I would also appreciate advice on how/when to discuss with our daughters their mom’s wishes for no extraordinary life saving measures and, if the time comes, removal of life support.Thank you all so much. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2GDxuPa
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