BBC: Sharon Suffering From Pneumonia

[Posteritatis]

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in a coma since January, is now suffering from pneumonia, hospital officials say. The condition of Mr Sharon, 78, has worsened this week.

Posted in response to another thread, which mentioned rumors that he'd passed away but was locked due to a lack of link. This is some actual information, at least.

...Also, am I the only person who thinks that his condition "worsening" is actually an improvement, if just because it might herald an end to that limbo he's trapped in these past several months?

[CountAllVotes]

1. as I have posted before re: Sharon

I hope he passes on soon so he can RIP. It is sad for his family even if he doesn't know what it going on. :(

:kick:

[rsmith6621]

2. He's a GONNER.....

Perhaps Bill frist will recomend a bigger feeding tube......I wonder what impact this will have on the Israelis still contiuing attack on the HEZ.....

[Lerkfish]

3. reminds me of the old soviet union, first, the leader gets a cold....

then pneumonia, then after several stages later, he dies....however he was really dead when they first reported he had a cold.

[AnneD]

4. This is it...

more folks die of pneumonia in hospitals and long term care facilities than just about anything else. That's why the Nurse are always hasseling folks to get up. This really is the kiss of death for Sharon.

[mopinko]

5. i'd want to go, that is for sure.

my whole family has strict orders. none of this crap for me. i wouldn't have wanted to hang on this long.

[MiniMe]

6. I wonder if it was his families choice?

I'm sure that the family was pressured to do whatever possible to keep him alive until after the elections. Once they had done that, they had no choice but to keep him on support. I too hope this ends soon for him, it can't be easy on his family at all. At least he knows nothing.

[Beausoir]

7. Agreed. A beloved family member endured this...weeks on the vent

until eventually, pnuemonia took its toll.

Not the way I'd want to go...but then again, do we ever have a choice in the matter?

There's a saying in nursing homes...pnuemonia is an old person's best friend.

[Dulcinea]

8. It's only a matter of time now.

Pneumonia, plus I read somewhere (can't remember where) that he's not passing any fluids, which means his kidneys are failing.

Death would come as a blessing at this point.

[SoCalDem]

9. Sharon "died" in January..They've just been keeping the corpse

warm for months and months.. It may sound cold, but when you're old, and you have a massive stroke (one you are unlikely to ever recover from), they should just "let you go" with some dignity..

Being unconscious, kept alive by machines, is not "living"..

[bleedingheart]

10. thanks for saying that...

cuz every time they talk about his health issues...I keep thinking..."why won't they let the poor man go on to his next adventure.."

[noonwitch]

11. It's sad, and I hope he has a peaceful passing, when it happens

Whether you liked Sharon or not, he certainly was a commanding personality-a strong, verbal man. It's always sad to hear that someone like that is lingering in such a reduced capacity.

Sometimes our medical technology is miraculous, sometimes it just prolongs the suffering.