Does God Make Mistakes?

This is beautiful. Thank you for such a powerful reminder.

Amen!

Powerful stuff.

This was beautifully written. But I am more concerned about the mistakes people and committees make. I once saw an unresponsive 90 year old with all four limbs amputated due to gangrene. Surgery was "required" to deal with a decub or something (this was many years ago). The patient coded in the OR but was resuscitated because it was policy to resuscitate anyone who codes in surgery even if they had a DNR. Sometimes death IS the best outcome....

Thank you so much for sharing.. It is so hard to see children in situations that look like there will be no happy ending. But, despite our best prognostications, they can and do exceed our expectations. Therefore, I totally understand this mother's refusal for a DNR. This is her child, and only she has that connection/bond which will allow the child to grow and develop (once out of the hospital) in ways that he otherwise wouldn't be able to. With children, I believe they all deserve a chance. I have seen too many (including my own child) exceed expectations to the point that physicians had no answers, were speechless, and so I believe that no, God does not make mistakes. There is suffering, but it is for a reason (not that we always understand), and with that suffering, both on the part of the mother and the child, comes a bond which is incredibly strong and incredibly special. Until you see it, like you did, you truly don't begin to understand it. Thank you again for sharing such a personal story! Maybe someday, somehow all this will make sense. That is the only thought that keeps me sane sometimes...

Wow, this really touched me. Great story and reminder that we are health care workers, not God.

Its wonderful to see that there are people out there who are willing to acknowledge God in everything, esp. human life. Sadly, here in Australia, this acknowledgment is rarely seen. But yes, I thoroughly agree - we don't have the right to say whether one "should" or "should not" die.And yes, God does NOT make mistakes. It's just that sometimes we do not see the complete picture, and hence may have a distorted view of situations like this.

I guess ultimately this question presumes that there is a God. I think it's great that in your case the patient and mom showed signs of acknowledging each other though. I had a pt who was born perfectly healthy but aspirated on a balloon when he was three years old. He can't smile, can't make noises, doesn't recognize anyone, has uncontrollable spasms, contractures up the wazzoo, and a family situation that made it clear he was a mere disability paycheck. I took care of him in his home and never saw parental interaction aside from the few times the pt was yelled at. Parent even told me not to suction his trach often because if the nurses paid too much attention to the pt "he would produce secretions just to get attention". Ummm...this is an individual with ZERO thinking abilities and of course....the pt is a DNR. I think in this case (assuming there is a God) God didn't make a mistake...the parent did by not being as vigiliant in supervising around balloons. The other mistake was to keep him a DNR (he's almost 30 now). That's my opinion. But in the case where the pt is not even dealt with warmly by the parents and relies on 16 hours a day of nursing care in the home while the parent watches TV...I kept asking myself "What is the point of all of this"? I did my best to take care of the pt (read to the pt, stroke the pts forehead, talk to pt during my shift, etc) but wow...it was hard and try as I might...I could not find any objective or subjective quality of life for this poor pt. just my

this is really touching..i think its right that u do ur best and god will do the rest...so its better that we dont take almighty's duties..

I see the potential for child abuse here.The child is a burden on the parents and society and this baby cannot protect herself from other people. I cannot imagine the pain that this baby must be in right now and what her future must be like.

I work in a hospital specifically for children with exceptionally severe mental and physical disabilities. All the children are developmentally delayed, none can talk, almost none can walk (bar one, and other who walks with a frame), more than 50% are gastrostomy fed only, more than a quarter are epileptic to some degree on top of their primary disability, most spend their days between bed, a variety of splints and their wheelchairs that have so many harnesses and supports to align their bodies I haven't quite figured them all out yet... & less than half these kids are NFR (not for resuscitation) or specifically not signed for transfer (to a major hospital for further treatment.) Why? Because they have a fairly wonderful quality of life. The other night I was getting my kids ready for the evening and a boy, not much older than me, wandered into the room, telling me that he was one of my pt's cousins. Now, this kid is seven, he's blind, developmentally delayed, epileptic and has some sort of chromosomal disorder that significantly impairs him. Yet when his cousin sat down by his side and began to speak to him, the child changed - he lit up. He ate everything his cousin fed to him that night (and nothing from me, after all my attempts!) and even laughed!Sometimes I wonder... a lot of these kids go through major surgeries (like nissans and gastronomy implants for reflux, spinal rods, tendon releases and so forth) that are exceptionally painful, though preformed with the intention of improving their quality of life. Yet the kids dont understand what is happening to them for the most part and they generally have horrible recovery and rehab pain associated (we have one little girl who had a tendon release in her hip and is now is a cast that covers from her abdo to her knees. It has two holes, one for her button and one for her nappy!) I can't even begin to imagine.I dont know what the answer is. I dont think any of us really do. I guess all we can do is give them the best quality of life that we can with the limited resources they have to experience it.

I have a son who had a trach and a jaw distraction done by two weeks of age. I, too, have wondered whether we were "playing God" by putting the trach in, as all the other interventions came about because the trach made it possible. I have stared into my son's eyes at two months, six months, a year, and wondered "is anyone in there?". He has now had so many surgeries we have lost track, more scars than any human should have, and a connection to all people who meet him that just makes them love him. Did we play God when he was born? Maybe. But I also know that God could have taken him any number of times since then, and he hasn't. He has allowed this child to learn to eat, talk (some), run (couldn't walk til 2 years old), and generally make us praise God for giving him to us.