Ordinary Means VS Extraordinary means

Question:

My 83 year old father had been in the hospital for forty days a huge ulcer ruptured he has been through two surgerys one being major where half his stomach was removed his body has recuperated quite well and he's being fed intravenously because they said his swallow is not strong enough so now they want to place a peg tube in his stomach which would require a third surgery , they are surprised my dad even made it through the first two . We are in conflict with the hospital because we said no to the tube and have faith he will eat on his own . My father would not want this tube and would be no quality of life for him , my dad says he's not hungry and already lived his life, he's saying he has spoken to his brothers which have passed away years ago and ask for my mom she passed away six years ago . We decided to take my father home under palliative care if we can't get him to eat and he gets even more sick we can call hospice. Jessie are me and my siblings doing the right thing not to prolong his life with this artificial tube? Please pray for us

Answer:

As Catholics we are called to use "ordinary means" of conserving life, in other words, food and water, this is a moral obligation. We are allowed to forego extraordinary means and make due with ordinary means. This cannot be equated with suicide. We are simply accepting our condition. We are not trying to fight death with treatments out of proportion to the benefits because of their excessive cost or side effects. When death is imminent, we are permitted to refuse forms of treatment that will only prolong the dying process. However, normal care must continue to be given. This includes food, water, warmth and hygiene.

Extraordinary means of treatment are medical procedures that are exceptional because they are experimental, expensive, have serious physical and or psychological side effects. Again, what is considered extraordinary will vary depending on the patients age, condition and available technology.

It seems to me that you are in line with Catholic moral teaching, however send this email to the experts at: https://www.ncbcenter.org/

They answer questions like this.