when your 86 year old father/grandfather starts to say things like "i'm going up there" while staring at the ceiling and "it won't be long now", it's time.
when he has been in the hospital for almost 2 months without signs of recovery, it's time.
when nothing we do makes any difference, it's time.
when he starts to swell with edema because his protein is so low, it's time.
when the deconditioning becomes so bad that he can't bend his legs, it's time.
when he's being kept alive by TPN and antibiotics, it's time.
it's time to let go. it's time to let him get to where he's going.
and it's hard, this i know from experience.
but the TPN and the physical therapy and the labs and the scans....you're not doing it for him. you're doing it for YOU. he wants to die, this i have heard from his lips more than once.
so let him. let him go.
if you love him, let him die.
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