SURGERY AIMED AT PREVENTING OR RELIEVING SYMPTOMS – CONCLUSION
If your situation is life threatening your decision is more difficult. As well as questions like those above you would also need to ask yourself and your doctor: What do I stand to gain and to lose by going through a major operation which is likely to result in me living a bit longer? What could that extra time be like? How much of it is likely to be spent in hospital? What new problems could the cancer cause in that time? What might I die of later if I don’t die of bowel obstruction now? Can my present unpleasant symptoms be controlled by some other means if I decide to let nature take its course?
It takes a very courageous person to refuse a temporarily life saving treatment of any sort. This is definitely not ‘taking the easy way out’ or ‘giving up’. Even though it might be best for everybody, including you, such a refusal is never easy. I hope that whenever the time is right for you, you will be realistic, brave and tough enough to say ‘No’.
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