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Post by jloubier on Oct 16, 2014 0:50:35 GMT
My father died of brain cancer in 1999. We found out in October. He died in December. Wouldn't wish this awful cancer on anyone.
What stood out from the interview was when she said :" I'm not ending my life, cancer is ending my life." Unfortunately, that is the reality of the situation. I completely support her right to choose when, and how, to end her suffering. I'm sure it was a heartbreaking decision to make.
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Post by cadoodlebug on Oct 16, 2014 1:23:04 GMT
I absolutely believe this should be passed in every state. When my mom died from Alzheimer's my sister and I both said that if we ever got it we wouldn't want to get to the point where we didn't know anyone, couldn't eat, etc. She, in fact, was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's when she was in her early 50's. The last image I have of my wonderful sister is in a fetal position in a hospital bed in the guest bedroom of her home. It breaks my heart that the very thing she feared the most actually happened to her.
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Post by mirabelleswalker on Oct 16, 2014 1:32:15 GMT
No I don't feel she should suffer. I disagree with suicide, which is what she is planning. I understand why she's doing it, I understand that having the meds has brought her peace and a sense of control in her situation. As a Christ-follower, I just disagree with it. I don't feel it is up to me to decide my days on this Earth. Some people don't think this is suicide. Gene Robinson, a retired Episcopal bishop, has written a piece on it here.
One of the paragraphs that jumped out at me: "Brittany Maynard is not mentally ill. She is not suffering from depression. No amount of therapy—whether psychological or physical—will change the fact that without intervention, she will die a horrible death. She seems to have worked through the "stages of dying" made famous by Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, and reached the final stage of accepting the fact of her imminent death." In fact, it's not a matter of if she will die of this, but when and how. I wholeheartedly believe in her right to take control of her life and her death.
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Post by scrappinmom3 on Oct 16, 2014 2:17:16 GMT
Her life, her decision.
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Post by mirabelleswalker on Oct 16, 2014 4:24:11 GMT
Apparently, she is doing very poorly. link
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Post by hop2 on Oct 16, 2014 11:18:12 GMT
The story breaks my heart. But, as I've said in the past, I absolutely have to support each persons right to choose how to deal with a terminal illness, fight all the way, not fight, actively take control whatever. I think, actually I feel very strongly, that a person who is dealing with a terminal illness has every right to chose how to deal with it. Every right to control as much as they can, every right to maintain their identity, who they are, their dignity, for as long as they wish to. Certain things can happen at the ends if life while battling cancer that can ( for some people ) rob them of themselves, who they really are, anyway. So to me, it's an incredibly personal choice and I couldn't have the heart to condemn someone to die a slow, horrible, painful death and still loose themselves before they die anyway. I could never be that cruel.
It's a real emotional thing to watch a loved one die, especially from cancer, so I have to fully support the tiny minuscule comfort that one may find knowing that it was the persons own choice. It's not much really, but it is the tiniest bit easier to hold someone's hand thru that when they haven't been forced into the situation by other peoples choices.
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ellen
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,504
Jun 30, 2014 12:52:45 GMT
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Post by ellen on Oct 16, 2014 12:14:11 GMT
In May my mom had a serious stroke. There was no hope for any meaningful recovery. She was placed on comfort care for the last week of her life. This meant no food or water. She received meds to manage pain and keep her comfortable. This was the only alternative to existing in a high needs nursing home until she passed away on her own. All of this was considered OK because food and water are considered to be medical treatment and you have the option to not be treated. Watching my mom dehydrate over the course of a week was awful. It felt inhumane to make her go through that. It would have been far more humane to just give her a little too much morphine and let her go.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 12, 2024 20:21:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2014 12:33:55 GMT
I fully support her right to die with dignity.
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Post by smokey2471 on Oct 16, 2014 12:34:03 GMT
My stepmother died of brain cancer. It was horrible I respect her right to choose. I'm not sure what I would do but I am glad she has the choice and everyone should
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M in Carolina
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,128
Jun 29, 2014 12:11:41 GMT
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Post by M in Carolina on Oct 16, 2014 13:07:23 GMT
I just read an article about people on ventilators in Israel because it is illegal there to take someone off of a ventilator or do anything to hasten their deaths. They have hospitals just to warehouse those in limbo between life and death. For me, seeing the other extreme of the spectrum of medically hastening death really helped me see how much we already do to help people not suffer more.
I think if someone wants to take something to hasten their death, that they should be able to choose that. No one should have to linger in intractable pain and suffering just like no one should be euthanized when they still want to live--even if death is inevitable.
I watched my grandmother die a horrible death from pancreatic cancer. My aunt is a nurse, and she didn't like the idea that hospice was allowing my grandmother to be so doped that she spent most of her time sleeping. That sleeping was such a blessing, because the pain and nausea was so horrible. I remember my mom and her other sister battling with my aunt and how we'd get my aunt out of the house on pretense so the hospice nurse could give my grandmother more medicine. It was horrible.
My dad had a massive stroke while in recovery after bypass surgery. He was technically gone. Thankfully he had a living will, and we were allowed to remove his ventilator. I hope my dad wasn't aware of the horrible body spasms that wracked his frame for 3 days while we waiting for family to come and for the organ donation team to assemble. Sometimes he'd breathe over the vent, which made me worry that maybe he still had some understanding of the situation. I pray that he didn't. It was horrible to watch. I was especially angry at my brother, who didn't even spend any time with my dad after we waited a day and a half for him to arrive. He didn't even say goodbye that final night, instead choosing to go out with friends for dinner--while the next morning giving me a nasty time because I just wanted to go home and hide, not appear at church for sympathy while my dad's organs were harvested. It took me a very long time to get over that week.
I have chronic pancreatitis and MS with paralysis. Many days I can't eat normally and have been hospitalized more than I can count for acute pancreatitis. My pancreas is digesting itself from the inside out. I feel like I'm having a horrible gallbladder attack all.the.time. I am thankful that there are meds that help alleviate my pain. My back hurts all the time, and many times if I sit straight up too long or move weird, I get paralysis down my back and legs. Sometimes that paralysis lasts for a few minutes, the longest it's lasted is a few weeks--where I'd throw myself off the bed onto some pillows, and drag myself army style to the bathroom and back.
Many people who don't die from the pancreatitis itself get pancreatic cancer. I know how awful that death is. I pray that I will never have to make this awful decision. I will consider it if it makes my death more peaceful for my family. I don't want to die, but I don't want to live with no quality of life, either.
Right now I can still go out from time to time and go shopping, and I've even lately been able to eat solid food and go out to eat twice with my husband. We didn't go out for our anniversary or for my birthday because I couldn't eat enough to even bother. I'm hoping I stay healthy enough that dh and I can enjoy our late Autumn trip to The Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville for a late anniversary trip. Last Christmas, I had a few mouthfuls of Christmas dinner and spent the rest of the week just drinking my Ensure shakes. All I do is sit around the house. I don't really have a lot of quality to my life now. I do have a family that loves me, and I want to stay here for them as long as I can.
I am a Christian, and I believe that God has given us all this medical knowledge to do good. Limiting pain and suffering is good. It's only been in modern times that society has shied away from ending pain. On ancient battlefields and even for the Roman gladiators, those that could not be helped were mercifully killed so they didn't suffer. We treat our beloved animals with more dignity than we do our human loved ones.
I'm glad that this brave young woman has the courage to speak up. She's already experiencing really horrible days, but she wants to hang on for her husband's birthday. She didn't just choose a random date, she has a purpose in mind for hanging on this long. Brittany also said that if she feels good on Nov. 1st that she'll enjoy that day and postpone her plans. I really admire her. What love to not want her darling husband's birthday ruined or Thanksgiving or Christmas. I hope I am never in Brittany's place, but I hope that I can face my death with such grace and love. That's what would please God.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Oct 16, 2014 14:59:40 GMT
Her story is heartbreaking. Her poor, poor mother. I have to say that unfortunately I've been through too many deaths, and universally my family has done what the vast majority of Americans do - throw everything and the kitchen sink at trying to gain an extra, year, month, day, hour. There is one situation that still haunts me - we just really mucked it up. The shock, disbelief and hope that medical miracles will make it all better is very, very strong. There is nothing natural about the end of life for the vast majority of patients. The reality is that without intervention they would have died much, much sooner - why people are suddenly concerned about intervening at the very end confuses me. In this particular case, I'm sure if Mrs. Maynard stopped taking the medication to reduce swelling in her brain the end would come much sooner - horrifically, and painfully. May she and her family find peace.
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