Archie Battersbee thread 5

[henryhihat]

New thread...

@SummerWithMyHorse and other parents who have been through this, gentle hugs. So sorry for you.

Oh don't get me wrong I, not questioning their expertise in end of life care.

My mums final days were spent in a Rowans hospice and she couldn't have had better care imo.

But Archie's specific ITU care requires very specific training and regular updates.

I've never known with any hospice I've been involved in that EOL patients are on full ventilation and infusions. Which is why if they are transferred that way they use private specialist teams or hospital staff.

It was more the specific skilled team for what Archie needs.

Has a hospice agreed?

The poor woman is simply deranged by grief. I remember looking after a baby who’d been found dead in her cot. When she was brought into A&E she was pronounced dead but the mum and dad carried on doing CPR, in the vain hope that it wasn’t really happening, that this wasn’t real. It was utterly heartbreaking.

highly doubtful. If they had they would have been named in the press by now.

Just came across this on Twitter, published in 2017 and written by a member of the GOS team that cared for Charlie Gard. As the mother of a 12-year-old I have so much sympathy for Archie's parents, but reading this you'd have to be heartless to condemn the NHS staff who've looked after him since April.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/commentisfree/2017/aug/04/it-was-our-agonising-job-as-charlie-gard-care-team-to-say-enough?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Is he still alive? I use "alive"
In the loosest possible sense of the word.
What are the hospital waiting for?

Powerful.

I've just seen the Times Radio interview that HD did this morning. She mentions him 'progressing every day'.

If he is transferred then the hospice would not be named and all details of arrangements made would be confidential unless leaked

Does she actually explain what she means by that? What progress does he think she's seeing?

That article is heart breaking. One of my GS was cared for in the neo natal ICU at GOSH while he waited for and then went through open heart surgery. The staff were amazing. Very highly skilled, very professional, very caring to both the children in their care and the families. I can't begin to imagine how painful it must be to be told there is nothing more they can do for your child but the keyboard warriors that jump on to every bandwagon should not be allowed to get away with abuse and threats to those caring for these children.

Why would any hospice agree to have this grotesque circus inflicted on it and its residents?

My dad passed in ITU (I've mentioned in the previous threads so apologise for repeating to those that read those post)

We only had a few hours and it was a shock as we honestly thought he would pull through. I can categorically say in my experience, we wouldn't have wanted to go through that without the ICU staff there. It could be controlled and made as peaceful as possible. The back up afterwards was also amazing (especially dads diary of his time in ICU)

Dad was in a better "state"
than Archie. It wouldn't have crossed our minds to try and move him or interfere with the medics.

I can't get my head around her thinking? I have children too and I know for a fact, however devastated I would be, i wouldn't do this.

Also the language coming out is so hurtful to others who have made that decision and let our loved ones go with dignity.

article

This article says that a family member says a hospice has agreed to take him.

When will the High Court sit?

*You have contributed to the family’s pain, you have been fighting a cause you know nothing about. It’s not been helpful to anyone.

You will forget about Charlie, you’ll carry on with your life. His parents will live with this for ever. They will go over and over whether they made the right choices for their beautiful baby, whether they were strong enough to make those choices amid the fury of you watching a drama unfold from behind your screen*

So true!

I think the thing about hospices is that they are peaceful places. Most people there will have come to terms with their imminent demise. I should add that people don't always go there to die - sometimes for some respite and palliative control. Our local one does activities like pottery for the whole family to build family memories, a patient told me what a lovely day they had, all together, creating a pot of memories with writing and illustrations on it.

The last thing a hospice needs is this circus descending on them. A family who haven't come to terms and all the rest.

And I think there's a very real risk of attempts being made to prolong care within the hospice once he was there - could the hospice suddenly find itself having to head to court as they try one more appeal?

I do think people overplay how hard/impossible it would be to transfer him - obviously lots of specialist staff and equipment would be involved but ITU patients do get transferred to different units for various reasons. It's not straightforward but it can be managed. I just don't think it should be done. For lots of reasons including the above.

This is all so sad.
Hospices and their skilled and caring staff are there for living people nearing the end of their lives.
This is not an appropriate treatment for this poor boy.
The hospice request is just an extension of his mothers beliefs.

''A family spokesman said a hospice has agreed to take Archie, adding: "Hospices are well and truly designed for palliative and respite care.

"Archie is now obviously on palliative care so there is no reason whatsoever for him not to take his last moments at a hospice."

**

There are 900 1 to 15 year olds die every year. How many of their patents get a say when or where their children pass away.
The family arecacting as if they are being denied a normal rite of passage.

The lady doing the times radio interview looked and sounded very uncomfortable.

I have utmost sympathy for Ms Dance but when she says things like "the hospital have done nothing for Archie to care for him" I find myself losing it for her.

Despite the absolute difference in opinion about continuing life support does she honestly not see that if it wasn't for a team for consult sats and nurses there wouldn't be an end of life battle to fight.

There would be no life to fight over.

There are no winners here.

Can the hospital remove Hollie if she becomes abusive towards the staff?

It's absolutely shocking what she's saying about the hospital staff. I don't know what more she expects. She's complaining one minute there's always nurses around then the next they've done nothing to care for him.
Yes it's horrific what she's going through and we can all feel for her but the way she's bad mouthing the hospital staff it's just not right. They must dread going in each day to do their shift I don't think I could do it.