heart attack - ccu

[Amy]

My 82 year old mother in law has had a few minor heart attacks and strokes the past year gradually leaving her unable to feed or dress herself without aide due to difficulty moving her hands. She was recently confined to a wheel chair due to frequent falls using a walker. Two days ago, she had another heart attack. This one is different. She can open her eyes to voices but doesn't appear to focus. My husband describes it as if it is blank behind her eyes. She has no speech and only generalized withdrawal to pain. Her entire right side is paralyzed. She keeps going back and forth between breathing ok to taking shallow breaths and is experiencing frequent arythmias. She has a living will and is DNR. In her living will, she was not sure about feeding so for the time being, my husband and sister in law have allowed a nasal tube but no permanent feeding tube. Could she remain like this for an extended period of time? How do you really know if she is aware of how badly off she is. Even before this latest event, she felt that she had outlived her body when she couldn't even dress herself and was confined to a wheel chair. The neurologist is not holding out hope when it comes to recovering any quality of life. Knowing how she felt about quality of life, it is horrible to think that she may go on like this for any period of time, especially if she does have any awareness of her condition. Any information would be appreciated.