My mother has taken a serious turn for the worse.  She can no longer swallow properly and part of her food is being sucked into her lungs, which has caused her to develop aspiration pneumonia.
She also now has Parkinsons, which causes her only hand that she can use to shake badly.  She is currently in the hospital; but since, her mental capabilites are seriously limited due to some strokes she has been having, we are now being called in to make a medical decision on her behalf.
My brother actually has medical power of attorney; but he, I, Kenna and Holly, as well as her youngest sister have all jointly agreed to allow the hospital to insert a feeding tube.
We were given three choices:  allow her to try to take what food and drink she could with the inevitable result that she would possibly choke to death or die from another bout of pneumonia; withhold food and water completely, or put the feeding tube in.
Since she is still conscious, we just couldn''t agree to the second option nor could we sit by while she choked on her food and water.
She is so weak that I don't know how long she will live with the feeding tube; but we just didn't know what else to do.
Please keep my family in your thoughts as we navigate through these troubling and heartbreaking days.