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Respiratory Disorders (Expert Forum)
I want to know how long an elderly very sick person near death, on 24-hour hospice care can live with no food.
Answered by
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I want to know how long an elderly very sick person near death, on 24-hour hospice care can live with no food.
by Alisha Allison, Jul 23, 2007 12:00AM
My grandfather is in a really great hospice and near death. He broke his leg, lost all of his weight (he has no muscle - just bones)he is a silent aspirator with a feeding tube and has had pneumonia four times since April of this year. He is 93 year old. They can't feed him through the feeding tube anymore because he gets sick and aspirates the vomit. How long can someone with all of these problems and not an ounce of fat live with no food. The only thing that they can give him is water. They are keeping him very sadated with morphine. I just want to know how long he can go in this current state with no food.
Doctor's Answer
by National Jewish, Jul 26, 2007 12:00AM
, Jul 26, 2007 12:00AM
Given your description of your grandfather's condition, he is unlikely to live much longer than 2 to 4 weeks.
I have a friend who went through this situation and their father lived about 10 days with no food intake.