Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
EPC has followed the Roger Foley story since it began. In June, EPC launched the petition: Roger Foley needs to be fed. After launching the petition the hospital inserted an IV. Roger needs assistance to enable him to eat.
After visiting Roger on August 6 and learning that he was only receiving water, we relaunched the petition. The hospital responded by feeding Roger. They then withdrew feeding and then reversed the decision and are feeding him again. It is ridiculous that an Ontario hospital has put a disabled man on a roller coaster ride over his basic right to eat.
Important: Sign the Petition. Roger Foley needs to be fed (Petition Link).
Roger Foley responded to the update:
Clarification of My Situation: LHSC is still not feeding me.
- I only have limited access to fluids in order to stay off an IV. The Compleat 1.5 is not food — I am drinking it only to get by until my lighting accommodations are restored.
- I remain blocked from eating and from accessing oral medications. Sometimes LHSC even restricts me to water alone.
Roger is receiving Compleat 1.5, which is an improvement, but as he states, this is not food and since he is not being fed he is unable to receive oral medications, that are required to be taken with food.
- To drink, I am forced to wear extremely heavy makeshift ski goggles that cause severe pain and further injury to my deformed cervical spine. With these goggles, I can only manage about 10 minutes of fluids three times a day, before my neck gives out. During that short window, I must bloat myself with as much fluid as possible to avoid dehydration. There will come a time when my neck can no longer tolerate the goggles, and then I will be forced back on an IV.
Roger wears ski goggles to enable him to eat without reacting to the light, but as he states, he can only wear the goggles for 10 minutes because of his neck and his cervical spine.
The stand-off between the hospital and Roger concerns the level of lighting. The staff insist that it is not safe to feed Roger without more light but Roger insists that his reaction to the regular lighting is so intense that he requires special lighting. The CNIB confirmed that Roger has severe photo sensitivity.
The key issue is that London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) must accommodate Roger by changing the lighting.
It is ridiculous that an Ontario hospital is not feeding a man with a degenerative neurological condition. Roger is capable of eating but he requires assistance.
7 comments:
This is appalling. How hard would it be to change the lighting in his room?!!!!!! I can’t imagine that difficult…please correct me if I’m wrong.
Is there a phone number that we can call at the hospital to put more pressure for change?
We agree. It is called a bureaucracy. This is a big hospital.
It appears that a toxic relationship has developed between Roger and the hospital staff. Refusing to accommodate Roger’s requests indicates hostility on the part of staff. The staff may not agree that Roger’s requests are warranted, but even if they weren’t, the requests are of little inconvenience to the staff. At the very least, in order to further the health and well-being of their patient, the staff should accommodate his requests. To do otherwise is bullying. And bullying is not therapeutic for a patient. If Roger’s requests are in fact warranted, the staff’s refusal to accommodate his requests amounts to attempted murder. This is a very bad situation and the charge nurses, nurse floor managers and hospital ethics board all need to be reprimanded and perhaps dismissed. Barring this, Roger needs to get the heck out of there! — Thomas Lester
I hope an effort is being made to get Roger into independent living. This would be no small effort and would require no less than five or six people: 1) a lawyer, 2) a person who is currently living independently on 100% government funding (who has an intimate and current understanding of how to navigate the labyrinth of hospital and social service bureaucracy to achieve independent living), 3) a landlord who is amenable to accepting government rental payments and is willing to make possible physical alterations to the rental unit, 4) a person to serve as a coordinator and central point person, and 5) one or two foot people to put the dwelling unit together physically. If there aren’t people to make this happen, then Roger is stuck where he is, and his best hope is that heads will roll at the hospital where he’s living. They need a change in attitude. — Thomas Lester
It should be easy to get Roger approved for independent living, but in fact this has been the crux of the problem. This whole dilemma started with Roger asking to be approved for self-directed care more than 9 years ago. Self-directed care is a program in Ontario so he wasn't asking for something new. Roger was turned down for self-directed care. This has been going on for years.
I agree that there is a toxic relationship with the hospital. But that shouldn't matter when someone needs basic care.
Let's not forget that numerous people in upper management at Mr Foley's hospital are now being investigated for fraud and mismanagement, so they will have to try to save money somehow. Yes, that's a fact, and yes it seems to tie in.
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