He and his family endured a very stressful time for seven months, after which the family felt that the treatment was not satisfactory. Therefore, they traveled to Jordan to seek a second opinion. Despite undergoing two months of treatment at the King Hussain Cancer Center, Mr. T's condition did not improve because the type of lung cancer he suffered from progressed very fast and entered the late stage. A bone scan and liver biopsy test showed metastasis to the bone and liver. For the past three months, Mr. T spent most of his time at the hospital. Last week, he became very weak and suffered from shortness of breath because he developed pleural effusion. A pleural tap was done to relieve his symptoms. Mr. T could not get out of bed or eat well, and his family spent most of the time with him. .
Last night, his condition deteriorated as his oxygen saturation was 84%. He was intubated and transferred to the Hamad General Hospital for critical care in Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) because the NCCCR does not have a critical care facility. His blood pressure was 85/55 mmHg while the pulse was 109/minute. Mr. T was kept in the emergency department since no bed was available in the MICU. This enraged the family, which did not find it acceptable for Mr. T to lie in the observation room along with 13 other patients. The on-call MICU physician assessed the patient's condition and reviewed all of his reports. He explained the situation to the eldest son. He informed him that his father was in the critical last stage of metastasis cancer and that there was no hope for treatment. The doctor prescribed a DNR treatment for Mr. T, but his son strongly rejected the advice and deemed it unacceptable. The MICU doctor urged him to take his time to think and decide whether the family would accept the DNR or not. The assigned nurse explained to them in detail their father's condition and asked them to give the DNR advice some serious thought.
