Surgery Late in Life

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/health/research/06medicare.html?ref=health

While this report (as the article brings up) leaves a lot of questions unanswered- many will agree that there has been an increase in surgeries late in life. And the question arises- were they needed/necessary?

I guess this struck a chord with me because it talks about doctor's performing surgeries to try and fix a problem even when they know that it won't necessarily save the patient's life. That's quite an ethical debate- if a doctor knows someone is dying, do they still perform the surgery? Because when it comes to death, sometimes the family isn't always the best judge- you want to hope that any surgery will save someone's life. We aren't always in the best state of mind.

And as anything that involves medical studies, I think to my own life and inevitably to my dad. I was only 10 when he had his accident and as I've grown older my mom has told us (my sisters and I) that it was very touch and go in the hospital in Michigan. There was no certainty he would survive. And I wonder- what if the doctors had just told my mom that they wouldn't continue to do surgeries because they weren't sure it would save his life? It's why I have immense respect for the medical field- would you want to have those decisions weighing on you? I wouldn't.

Since my dad will be having his first open heart surgery up here in Mpls next Friday, I wonder if and when the doctors may say enough is enough. When I step back, it's quite amazing how my dad has squeaked by. He survived his crash and the multiple surgeries that came with that. When being disabled made him less mobile and more sedentary and he started having problems with clogged arteries, he survived the surgery to have stints put in. When fluid that collected in his fake knee got staph infection, went into his bloodstream and went septic in his body- somehow he survived that too (though that one was the VA's fault for not alerting us that he had staph infection).

Even though it's an old hat for me, I'm always nervous for him. Even though his mortality has been something I've been grappling with for 17 years, it never gets easier. It's interesting- on the one hand, I'm constantly amazed at the strength of the human body and how my dad's body has been so resilient. On the other hand, I would never wish upon my worst enemy the feeling that any sickness could be the last, that every surgery is a life risk.

So I guess, after that giant tangent- I'm left wondering, how do doctor's go about determining when a surgery is necessary or not?