I had a big day out with my bestie yesterday. We usually meet up every few months or so at 8.30 for brekkie at a random Maccas of my choosing, catch up with all the goss, then go on to trawl the local op shops for bargains. Usually we finish up around 2pm.
Yesterday, 2pm we went to the Henry Lawson Theatre at Werribee, she'd been there before and liked it and suggested it would be something we could both enjoy.
The piece was At Any Cost and dealt with the care of terminal patients at an advanced age. From the blurb:
"David Williamson is Australia’s best known and most widely performed playwright, writing plays that reflect our lives and aspirations. At Any Cost? is thoroughly modern and up to date dealing with health issues that we face now.
Despite the serious subject there are many laughs in this play but the ending is a deeply moving experience. The family members are completely divided, as tensions rise, and long-held secrets unfold, they begin to understand each others point of view and grow from this highly charged and emotional situation.
We welcome you to a thought provoking theatre experience."
What it actually was is... an 85 yo was in ICU, terminally ill. Too weak to be operated on and even if they did they would only restore her to her previous vegetative state, as she'd had a stroke some time beforehand, was bedridden and cared for by her aged husband. He refused the doctor's reccommendations to take his wife off ventilation vehemently.
His eldest daughter pleaded with him to do it. The younger 2 were not sure.
All sorts of family secrets came out. Infidelity, child abuse, favoritism. In the end the husband gave consent to take his beloved wife of life-support.
It was a bit amateur, but moving all the same.
It did also provoke thought. Some of the thoughts I went away with: "it costs $50.000 a day to keep a terminally ill patient in ICU."
75% of taxpayer-funded medical care is spent on ppl with, on average, only 6 mths to live anyway"
Is it worth it?
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