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Thread: Assisted suicide. Murder, or mercy?

  1. #21
    Foxglove's Avatar
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    Sometimes what you see is people at the end-stage will fight and cling onto life until they have fulfilled some final purpose (e.g. finally got to see a long lost daughter who disappeared from their life because of an argument several years ago, who finally came to make up and say good bye), and then they feel at peace enough to let go.
    But what if you have all your affairs in order and you feel ready to go, and you're suffering and don't want to see yourself decline even more than you already have, but the healthcare team is estimating that you have another 2 months to live? Of course that's only one of so many scenarios for why a person might consider the option of assisted suicide.
    Palliative care is a really difficult field to be in, from watching the suffering and the pain, to seeing those moments where you watch as the patient is fighting to cling onto their dignity as they feel it slipping away... When a person is at end-of-life, where there is no cure and your condition is only going to decline until you die, all the healthcare team can really do for you is try to make your last days as comfortable as possible.
    That said, dying is STILL a difficult and painful process, and it's worse when it's extremely prolonged. I think the option for euthanasia should be out there, but of course it's a very serious decision to make so of course there needs to be a ton of assessments and check-ups done up until the actual procedure, and it should be stressed by EVERYONE that it is completely OK to change your mind at any time -- just to make sure that the patient is absolutely sure that assisted suicide is truly what they want.

    Also on a more personal note (I hate to romanticize the concept but this is just my personal preference/thoughts), my idea of how I would like to die has always been that I would like to die at old age, peacefully, when I am ready, surrounded by the people I love. To be able to say my goodbyes, and then when I am ready, to give the go-ahead. I know that this isn't always possible when you allow a natural death. For the above reasons, and just also I remember this one story from a woman I cared for really resonated with me... The flu and pneumonia are particularly lethal for geriatric patients, and this one woman's husband caught the flu and died very suddenly. Her family had rushed to the hospital and they had a very large family, so first the grandchildren went in to say their goodbyes, then the children, and the finally by the time it was her turn to say goodbye to her husband, the man she had built a life and a beautiful big family with, he had already passed... she was heartbroken that she never got the chance to say goodbye to him. I know the context differs from the context where someone might consider euthanasia, but I personally would just like the option to be there, so that if I'm terminal and extremely old and feel it is finally my time to go, that I can have that opportunity to have my family there with me as I pass peacefully into death.
    Last edited by Foxglove; 02-10-2018 at 11:32 PM.

  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Foxglove View Post
    Sometimes what you see is people at the end-stage will fight and cling onto life until they have fulfilled some final purpose (e.g. finally got to see a long lost daughter who disappeared from their life because of an argument several years ago, who finally came to make up and say good bye), and then they feel at peace enough to let go.
    But what if you have all your affairs in order and you feel ready to go, and you're suffering and don't want to see yourself decline even more than you already have, but the healthcare team is estimating that you have another 2 months to live? Of course that's only one of so many scenarios for why a person might consider the option of assisted suicide.
    Palliative care is a really difficult field to be in, from watching the suffering and the pain, to seeing those moments where you watch as the patient is fighting to cling onto their dignity as they feel it slipping away... When a person is at end-of-life, where there is no cure and your condition is only going to decline until you die, all the healthcare team can really do for you is try to make your last days as comfortable as possible.
    That said, dying is STILL a difficult and painful process, and it's worse when it's extremely prolonged. I think the option for euthanasia should be out there, but of course it's a very serious decision to make so of course there needs to be a ton of assessments and check-ups done up until the actual procedure, and it should be stressed by EVERYONE that it is completely OK to change your mind at any time -- just to make sure that the patient is absolutely sure that assisted suicide is truly what they want.

    Also on a more personal note (I hate to romanticize the concept but this is just my personal preference/thoughts), my idea of how I would like to die has always been that I would like to die at old age, peacefully, when I am ready, surrounded by the people I love. To be able to say my goodbyes, and then when I am ready, to give the go-ahead. I know that this isn't always possible when you allow a natural death. For the above reasons, and just also I remember this one story from a woman I cared for really resonated with me... The flu and pneumonia are particularly lethal for geriatric patients, and this one woman's husband caught the flu and died very suddenly. Her family had rushed to the hospital and they had a very large family, so first the grandchildren went in to say their goodbyes, then the children, and the finally by the time it was her turn to say goodbye to her husband, the man she had built a life and a beautiful big family with, he had already passed... she was heartbroken that she never got the chance to say goodbye to him. I know the context differs from the context where someone might consider euthanasia, but I personally would just like the option to be there, so that if I'm terminal and extremely old and feel it is finally my time to go, that I can have that opportunity to have my family there with me as I pass peacefully into death.
    That is ideal...and insightful...warms me a bit to see passion from elsewhere

    Furthering that idea of old death..I REALLY hope I get to pull a Bill Murray and take two "last breaths"...i'm just that kinda guy...though...ill probably die really alone and be the only one that gets to chuckle at the second to last as i die...
    Thank you $Infected for the FANTASTIC upgrade to my forum look!

  3. #23
    earthanimal's Avatar
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    I'm all for it. That may make me sound like a cynic (which i probably am), but we really have more than plenty of people on this planet. I can really understand not wanting to be alive, and it should be okay to decide to die. It doesn't have to be dark or sad, death is just part of the cycle and it can be a beautiful thing.

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    Chambers (06-26-2018)

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