His head was supported by a thin pillow on a narrow hospital bed. A distinct pungent odor permeated the air. Rapid breathing was accompanied by a background rattle. His lips glistened from remnants of Vaseline swabbed over them to slow the inevitable drying and cracking from air whistling by. Thin grey hair liberally covered his scalp. His face and neck were pasty and creased. His eyes were closed. A thin institutional blanket covered both arms mottled with bruising and pooled blood. Death was stalking the ninety-two year old man. The struggle was nearing an end.
The nurse leaned over the bed and spoke to him in reassuring tones. She listened intently to his tortured gasps while her hand softly caressed his shoulder. Her focus was to ease his suffering. Her face was twisted with concern. She placed a syringe in the corner of his mouth and slowly pushed the plunger a third of the way down. A small amount of solution dripped out. He reflexively swallowed it. It was morphine. His inhalation eased within a few minutes. It was seven P.M. The curtain’s fall was postponed – for hours or perhaps days.
He was profoundly debilitated by Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s begins by robbing a human being of their independence and then their dignity. Over time, victims lose their sense of the world and their place in it. Near the end, motor skills atrophy and mental function ceases. [Read more…]