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妈妈最后的生命示现 － 我的永续生死学功课，第25页
为了让读者能更为真切地了解问题的结症，在此转述一个活生生的例子：二O一O年，南华大学生死学研究所硕士班的一位同学告诉我：他太太的外公高龄一百零八岁时，因为脑中风送到某私立教会医院，家人原本已经有了共识，不要再作医疗救治了，让老人家能够安然地往生。但不幸的是，从美国赶回来的小女儿坚持要救，家中居然就没有一个人胆敢反驳，任由小女儿发号施令。要救的话就要动脑部手术，小女儿说她认识某公立教学医院的脑神经外科权威名医，医术很好，于是就一人作主将老人家转院。不料转院后，该名权威医生认为老人家年事已高，脑部手术风险太大，拒绝冒险开刀。不幸的是，老人家已经作了插管和气切了，所以也回不了家，结果已经十个月过去了，老人家仍然挂在医院里，求生不得，求死不能。当初坚持要救老爸的小女儿早就屁股拍拍回美国去了，其他的兄姐也都七老八十了，自顾都不暇，哪有余力再去关心照顾老人家，就统统都丢给医院，让无情的维生机器陪伴着老人。。。苟延残喘。。。不知要拖到何年何月何日才得解脱？（注：后来这位老人家在医院拖了十一个月之后，因多重器官衰竭而死亡。）
Mother's Last Life Show - My Life and Death Study, page 25
In order to allow readers to better understand the problem, I would like to quote a real story: In year 2010, a master's course student from Nan Hua University Institute of Life and Death told me that: His wife's grandfather got a stroke when he aged 108 and was thus sent to a private churches hospital. The family members had already reached a consenses that grandfather should no longer be treated with medical treatment, so that the elderly could pass away peacefully. Unfortunately, the youngest daughter who rushed back from the United States insisted to proceed with medical treatment, and no one actually refuted and let her dominate every decision. The only possible treatment was going through brain surgery. She said she knew a famous neurosurgery surgeon from a public hospital, who was very skillful, and she transferred her father to that hospital without going through family discussion. Unexpectedly, after the transfer, the authoritative surgeon refused to risk the elderly by going through brain surgery due to patient was deemed too old. Unfortunately, patient had already been intubated and tracheostomy (stoma) had been performed, and thus, he was not able to return home anymore. As a result, ten months had passed and his grandfather was still in the hospital, lived in pain. The "decision maker" who insisted to "rescue" her father, had gone back to the United States long ago. And the rest of her siblings were also old enough and only able to take good care of themselves. The elderly was then left to the care of hospital staff, accompanied by relentless life-sustaining machine... barely survived with his last breathing... unsure of when can he released from such torture. (Note: After eleven months, the elderly man died of multiple organ failure.)
Mother's Last Life Show - My Life and Death Study, page 25
In order to allow readers to better understand the problem, I would like to quote a real story: In year 2010, a master's course student from Nan Hua University Institute of Life and Death told me that: His wife's grandfather got a stroke when he aged 108 and was thus sent to a private churches hospital. The family members had already reached a consenses that grandfather should no longer be treated with medical treatment, so that the elderly could pass away peacefully. Unfortunately, the youngest daughter who rushed back from the United States insisted to proceed with medical treatment, and no one actually refuted and let her dominate every decision. The only possible treatment was going through brain surgery. She said she knew a famous neurosurgery surgeon from a public hospital, who was very skillful, and she transferred her father to that hospital without going through family discussion. Unexpectedly, after the transfer, the authoritative surgeon refused to risk the elderly by going through brain surgery due to patient was deemed too old. Unfortunately, patient had already been intubated and tracheostomy (stoma) had been performed, and thus, he was not able to return home anymore. As a result, ten months had passed and his grandfather was still in the hospital, lived in pain. The "decision maker" who insisted to "rescue" her father, had gone back to the United States long ago. And the rest of her siblings were also old enough and only able to take good care of themselves. The elderly was then left to the care of hospital staff, accompanied by relentless life-sustaining machine... barely survived with his last breathing... unsure of when can he released from such torture. (Note: After eleven months, the elderly man died of multiple organ failure.)
当耕莘及台大医院的医生不断地建议给妈妈插鼻胃管的时候，我们都很明确地严词拒绝，只接受打点滴和营养液，其它任何入侵式的医疗措施一概不予考虑。我们兄弟这样的决定，很多人都颇有疑虑。
When doctors of Geng Shin and Hospital of Taiwan University constantly advised us to insert nasogastric tube to my mother, my brothers and I rejected the suggestion firmly, we only accepted drip and nutrient solution, any other invasice medical treatments were not taken into account. Many people were quite skeptical about our decisions.
When doctors of Geng Shin and Hospital of Taiwan University constantly advised us to insert nasogastric tube to my mother, my brothers and I rejected the suggestion firmly, we only accepted drip and nutrient solution, any other invasice medical treatments were not taken into account. Many people were quite skeptical about our decisions.
我们当然了解医生的顾虑与善意，他们担心妈妈从住进耕莘医院就一直没有进食，如果连鼻胃管都不插，会不会把妈妈“饿死”？我相信绝大多数人，一听到医生或者其他人说，不插鼻胃管会把病人“饿死”，几乎百分之九十九点九九九的人都会被“吓到”，同时也害怕遭到旁人严厉指控而担负“不孝”的罪名，在这样的情况下，绝大多数人都会毫不考虑病人的亲身感受与实际需求（其实往往是没有需求），就同意给病人插管了。
Of course we understood doctors' concerns. My mother had not taken any food since she was admitted to Geng Shin Hospital. They worried that she would be "starved to death" without inserting the nasogastric tube. I believe majority of people, perhaps almost 99.999% of them are terrified, as soon as when they hear about patients will be "starved to death" without inserting the nasogastric tube. At the same time, they fear of the harsh allegations of others by being not filial. Under such circumstances, most of them will ignore the feelings and actual needs of patients (in fact, patients usually do not have such needs), and agree to intubate the patients.
我要特别对各位读者强调，末期及临终病人想要能够善终与往生，是需要有起码的精神和体力的，如果家属及医生把病人的精神和体力都消耗殆尽在无谓的救治上面，病人是“绝对”无法善终与往生的。
I would like to particularly emphasis to all readers that, if terminally ill or dying patients want to be able to have good death, they need minimum amount of strength (mentally and physically). If the family and doctors consume patients' the only remaining negligible vitality on unneccessary treatments, it is absolutely impossible for the patients to have good death.
其次，我要特别提出来，请各位读者认真思考的问题，就是从病人对于插管的直觉感受层面来看，我不知道有多少医生自己亲身经验过插鼻胃管的感觉？我和二弟都经验过，苦不堪言。我在前面已经说过，妈妈因为吞咽功能退化，就连我小心翼翼地用吸管喂她喝水都会呛到，所以她进食的意愿很低，在这样的身体情况下，如果硬要为她插管，不是等于要她的命？
Secondly, I would like to specially request all readers to think seriously, that is, from the point of view of how the patients feel when they are intubated. I do not know how many doctors experienced being intubated. My brother and I had experienced it, it was terribly suffering. As I said earlier, my mother was having swallowing degeneration. She will chok even when I carefully fed her water with pipette, thus, her willingness to eat was very low. In such circumstances, it was almost like killing her by insisting on intubation.
病人如果插了鼻胃管，每天要灌食四到六次，表面上看起来，是为了病人的营养着想，但是很多人都没考虑到，只要有食物进入体内，接着就有消化和排泄的问题，对于末期及临终的病人而言，其实这是非常沉重的负担，同时也随伴着严重的后果——病人要嘛无法消化，要嘛无法排泄。二弟曾经当面问过医生给病人插了鼻胃管灌食之后，万一病人无法排泄怎么办？医生居然回答说：他没有想过这个问题。
If a patient has been intubated, he will be fed four to six times a day. This may look like it is for the patient's nutritional sake, but many people may not realise that, as long as we intake food, there are needs for digestion and excretion. These two issues will create heavy burden to the terminally ill or dying patient, and accompanied by serious consequences - it is either the patient not able to digest food, or he is not able to excrete. My brother did ask the doctor what if the patient not able to excrete after intubating. To our surprise, the doctor answered: He did not think about this issue.
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