I would hope that advance health directives would allow enough medication to be given to stop the heart rather than allow someone
to drown or suffocate.
My Dad had CHF and lung cancer. Yet when he did finally pass away, he seemed pretty comfortable, no coughing or wheezing. I think his lungs were too weak to rebel and his heart was too weak to fight it any more. He was in hospice care and they were very good about monitoring his medications for comfort.
Your question brings up a very important issue, Advance Health Directives. They control what health measures can be performed at end of life situations. Thank you for bringing up the topic, it's so important. My Advance Health Directives are on file at the hospital and a copy is also kept in our file. All my family and close friends have a copy.
My sincere best wishes, it appears you are in a stressful situation.
Well, after a while, no matter if you are in a hospital or not, the heart just can not pump the water sufficiently enough and that is what causes the "drowning" the heart is weak anyway, and it gets weaker with CHF as we age until finally it cannot pump as it should. The nurses and docs can keep a patient as comfortatable as possible, but when it gets so advanced, there is just nothing anyone can do.