Real-Life Decision Making
A baby named Melissa is born with a heart deformity that will affect her quality of life. In fact, without an operation, she will probably die.
Melissa is referred to you, a cardiovascular surgeon, to see if you think anything can be done to help her.
You wish that you could help every single patient who comes through your door. You wish you could right all the wrongs and make everyone healthy. Unfortunately, you can't.
As a cardiovascular surgeon, you must be able to make the most difficult decisions -- ones that don't have any easy answers. You must decide whether it is a good idea to operate.
Melissa's heart will never function normally, no matter what surgery is done. At the very best, you might be able to give the patient another 10 to 20 years of life. But even then, you can't guarantee the quality of this life. There is also a good chance that Melissa will die on the operating table.
Is it enough to put the patient and the parents through long periods of potential pain and suffering, in the slight hope that something can be done for the child? Or is it simply more compassionate to say you don't suggest surgery and recommend that the parents enjoy the remaining years with the child outside the hospital?
What do you say to the parents?