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thisnewday It's a formality, they say, a question they must ask. After the other questions of life and death have finally been answered.
Do we wish to have an autopsy?
I ask the young intensivist, who has handled her case, if anything would be learned from it.
He says that, yes, he would certainly learn from it and so would his colleagues on the ICU team.
Then he looks at me and says, "But you must do what feels right to you, what feels right to her family."
I nod my head and walk back into the room where, minutes before, her life has ended. And I tell my daughters what he has said.
We talk about what she would have wanted, about everything that she's already been through.
We speak earnestly about the possibility that whatever is learned may save another family from going through this with someone they love.
And then we come back to what she would have wanted, back to what she's already been through.
And we decide that she has done enough, should not be asked to endure any more.
That there will be no autopsy...
LPK
@ Dreamwidth.org
4.28.2017
Do we wish to have an autopsy?
I ask the young intensivist, who has handled her case, if anything would be learned from it.
He says that, yes, he would certainly learn from it and so would his colleagues on the ICU team.
Then he looks at me and says, "But you must do what feels right to you, what feels right to her family."
I nod my head and walk back into the room where, minutes before, her life has ended. And I tell my daughters what he has said.
We talk about what she would have wanted, about everything that she's already been through.
We speak earnestly about the possibility that whatever is learned may save another family from going through this with someone they love.
And then we come back to what she would have wanted, back to what she's already been through.
And we decide that she has done enough, should not be asked to endure any more.
That there will be no autopsy...
LPK
@ Dreamwidth.org
4.28.2017
