When cancer reaches the end stage, any part of the patient’s body can be at risk at any time, and subsequently become life-threatening.
This is because the entire body system, like an ever-higher stack of building blocks, is already on the verge of collapse and could come crashing down at any moment.
What’s more, Smith’s son is only twelve years old and his body has long been stretched to the limit during his years of fighting cancer.
Add to this the fact that the tumour in his brain was growing larger, and his emotions were so intense after his vision and hearing had been affected that the doctors had given him a sedative, and all these factors were hastening his demise.
Smith looked through the window at his son in his hospital bed, his whole being in utter despair.
He knew that after all his years of trying, he had finally lost.
Just then, a doctor walked up to him and said with a little respect and a little sympathy, “Mr Smith, Jimmy’s condition is really bad, I’m afraid he won’t survive the night, do you think we should still prepare resuscitation measures?”
Since Smith was a senior member of the FDA and was in charge of drug review, he had very strong connections in the medical system throughout the United States.
Therefore, he was able to use a constant stream of the most cutting-edge anti-cancer technology in the world on his son.
It is also because of this that the doctors at the hospital are extremely attached to his son.
Right now, the doctor also knew that his son had no chance of survival, but in view of Smith’s strong beliefs all along, he still had to consult Smith to see if he had to do one last resuscitation on his son, again.
No matter what the status or background, once a person becomes critically ill, they are without dignity, not only without dignity, but they may have to suffer the most intense pain in the world.
Many resuscitation techniques are very harmful to the body. For example, in cardiac arrest, powerful cardiac resuscitation techniques may break the patient’s ribs; cardiac defibrillation may also lead to skin burns; in respiratory distress, doctors may even need to intubate the patient’s trachea, or even intubate the whole body, and then put the patient on various devices for extracorporeal circulation.
Some patients have a chance of being revived after this series of resuscitations, but in the case of terminal cancer patients, it is likely that they will only be kept alive for a few more days without any dignity.
The hospital where Smith’s son is staying, called Mayo Clinic, is the best oncology hospital in the United States, if not the world, and the Washington campus is the newest and most advanced treatment centre that they have just opened this year, with huge investment of resources.
The doctors here have a wealth of experience and represent almost the pinnacle of medical treatment for cancer, and have a worldwide reputation.
The global medical establishment speaks very highly of Mayo, and the sum of the various rumours can be summed up in one sentence: the King of Hell lets anyone die at three o’clock, but Mayo keeps him until five o’clock.
So, too, Mayo’s doctors were certain that by resuscitating at all costs, they could keep Smith’s son alive for a few more days.
But it all depended on Smith’s wishes.
After all, in the doctor’s opinion, the boy had already gone through so much pain that at this time there was absolutely no need to put him through another round of hell before he left.
Smith’s eyes were already red from crying by now, and tears were crackling down his face.
He hesitated, but sighed and said, “Forget it …… and let him live out his last days in peace …… I don’t want him to go through any more torture ……”
The doctor nodded with a heavy face and spoke, “Mr. Smith, you have made an incredibly good decision and I’m sure Jimmy will thank you for it.”
Smith choked up and asked, “Is he going to wake up?”