Go to MY PERCEPTIVE REFLECTION!!
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- Go to SHOULD WE HAVE THE RIGHT/CHOICE TO DIE????
Butterfly9 and Justi........thank you very much for your comments.....
posted by
_Symphony_
on October 20, 2006 at 6:53 AM
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butterfly9
I have been an advocate for euthanasia for many years now. My views on this subject became very strong in my early years of nursing, and have not changed yet, although I left, partly due to some of the things I could not change for the dying. I gave it a good shot, although I risked my job at the time.
I believe we all should have a choice to leave this planet, when quality of life ceases to exist for us. I have seen so much pain that did not need to be prolonged because euthanasia is against the law.
I can tell you for a fact, that if politicians worked a month in palliative care as the system currently stands, the laws would change immediately.
posted by
Butterfly9
on October 20, 2006 at 6:46 AM
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Symphony
I don't think it is nearly;y as clearly cut as we make it. We can do a living will that will not allow us to be connected to machines that would cause our family to have to disconnect. But for man to begin choosing when to or not to die is taking a decision out of God's hands. We don't know what sort of example somewhere to someone your grandmother set that changed their lives. My mother was a gracious and beautiful woman who died in the same manner. It is horrible. However, choosing when to die will be taken advantage of and used as a convenience tool. Ill children are being killed for convenience sake in Holland. It is complicated. I want to die when I simply no longer live, not being kept alive by machines but simply let die, not when I no longer have quality of life.
posted by
Justi
on October 19, 2006 at 6:25 PM
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I totally agree....MasonGarrett!
and thanks A and B for your comment.
posted by
_Symphony_
on October 19, 2006 at 3:29 PM
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This is a sticky issue. : (
posted by
A-and-B
on October 19, 2006 at 3:05 PM
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...there should be choice... and if it is not profitable to the
medical/drug industry... too bad!
posted by
MasonGarrett
on October 19, 2006 at 2:53 PM
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Thank you for your commenrt...Moxie_Maven .....I agree.
posted by
_Symphony_
on October 19, 2006 at 11:49 AM
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I am so sorry....AbsolutelyPositive ....I really am.
posted by
_Symphony_
on October 19, 2006 at 11:47 AM
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Oh, this one is a toughy for me, Symphony.
I can not see being kept alive if survival means being connected to life support. That is not natural, and I can't see it being anybody's choice. From my experience in such a situation it's those that are healthy hoping for a miracle of some sort and not wanting to let go of someone they love, who are in denial and not allowing nature to take it's course.
posted by
Moxie_Maven
on October 19, 2006 at 11:43 AM
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I could not help remembering
My mother used to say she wanted me to smother her if she was ever in a vegetative condition. After a series of strokes, she lay helpless in a hospital bed, and I remembered her saying it. In the end I think she may have willed herself to die.
posted by
AbsolutelyPositive
on October 19, 2006 at 11:40 AM
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Wow...really? how shocking!....Troosha!
so, sad too....Yes dignity...I am sure is all that anybody would want!...thank you for your comment...
posted by
_Symphony_
on October 19, 2006 at 11:29 AM
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We should have the right
Interestingly enough the legality of euthanasia has come up in the news recently here in Canada. Regrettably, it’s not because of the moral or ethical issue but rather because how long term, fatal illnesses are placing a toll on the health care system. How unfortunate that a financial consideration is fueling some productive discussion on the letting or helping someone go when the want to go. Dignity – isn’t that all we all want?
posted by
Troosha
on October 19, 2006 at 11:17 AM
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Kidn...
I am not sure if what I am trying to say is coming across...
what I would like is for us 'me and you' to decide when we want to die...nobody else.
I would like us to be able to sign a form in the early stages of illness to say that if this happenes...then I want this!
I do not blame doctors, as I know they are only doing their job - what they think is right...I blame the goverment, maybe....for not having that wish granted.
so many people are suffering and want to die...lost the will to live....not getting any better.....they want peace....why cant they give these people what they want?
I am really sorry for all that you have been through, I really am.
I believe that the option should be there for us to make the descision if we want too.....not our families....either way whatever the outcome.....we all are affected....mostley those left behind.
sometimes people can be selfish to keep others alive...when nothing but pain they feel when being kept alive...
this is all just my opinion....everybody has the right to theirs.
posted by
_Symphony_
on October 19, 2006 at 10:03 AM
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SuccessWarrior
Thank you for your comment...
posted by
_Symphony_
on October 19, 2006 at 9:48 AM
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Well, DUH - I forgot something in my earlier comment
It's unfortunate, what happened to your friend with septicemia. I'm sorry to hear of what happened to her.
What I forgot to mention is that I have been in several situations in which my family has had to put me on machines due to life-threatening infections. During at least one point this year alone, my family was planning my Requiem Mass (I make no secret of my Catholicism). The bacterial meningitis with which I was afflicted this past February is often fatal. I gather that you would have your family make a different set of choices than those made by my family this year.
My point is that doctors cannot predict the future - they can only give probabilities and advice.
posted by
kidnykid
on October 19, 2006 at 9:14 AM
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When I no longer feel like I'm living my life anymore, it's time to call it
posted by
SuccessWarrior
on October 19, 2006 at 7:56 AM
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kidnykid ....she went down hill far too quickly...and she didn't want too
live her life this way....she wanted a life where she could live it to the max....like we all would want... but obviosuly she could not....I understood her need/want to die.
posted by
_Symphony_
on October 19, 2006 at 7:54 AM
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Pat_B ....thank you very much for your honest answer.
my brother taking his own life was a very selfish act...those left behind are the ones suffering...if he had a terminal illness, then I think I would have came to terms with that.....understood, maybe.
posted by
_Symphony_
on October 19, 2006 at 7:46 AM
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I believe there is a third choice
I would like to find ways to alleviate suffering such as that experienced by your friend with septicemia, without necessarily dying. It's a shame your friend suffered to the point of begging to die, but I feel we all let her down by not trying to alleviate her suffering so that she could have a high quality of life during her septicemic episode. That's my opinion.
posted by
kidnykid
on October 19, 2006 at 7:32 AM
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One thing sure, we're not going to find the definitive answer
to this very tough question here on Blogit. Godfearing folks think this decision is not up to them, that the Creator has their life woven into some master tapestry and it's not up to them to cut the thread. Others think it's just plain cruel to let people suffer and struggle through a painful, lingering death. I have one foot on each divergence. I've seen what happens to a family when someone kills himself, and have said I think there's an element of punishment in the act. It's not death I fear, it's the process of dying.
posted by
Pat_B
on October 19, 2006 at 7:28 AM
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lovelyladymonk ...you contridicted yourself a little bit.
I know what you are saying about God....but I believe that God is giving his calling to those who are ill...and it's doctors and so on who are fighting against his call.....the spirit has died...all is left is pretty much a fragile shell...I think it is wrong to keep these poor people alive....nobody knows what the future holds but maybe if we wrote a form to say that if we get like this....or have that.....then please let me die...and our wishes should be granted.
posted by
_Symphony_
on October 19, 2006 at 6:36 AM
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Oh, Love...
This one is so very hard for me. I believe that only the Father has the right to call us to Him when he is ready for us to join Him. I also believe, however, that He knows our suffering and doesn't want that for us.
I was only nine years old when my dad's father died. He'd had a heart attack and a stroke as well. He begged my grandmother to let him die...His heart had stopped. She ignored his wishes and forced them to revive him. Young as I was, I remember thinking how cruel and wrong that was.
One thing I know is this, when my time comes, what was done to my grandfather WILL NOT be done to me. I plan to make sure my wishes are known long before hand.
I wanted to go to medical school, but I'm now glad I didn't. I think doctors sometimes believe they have the power of God Himself. While I don't believe this is true of every doctor, they sometimes will try everything they can to keep a person alive. I say, if they're being called from this life, let them go in peace.
Does anything I said make sense to you, or have I been contridicting myself?
posted by
lovelyladymonk
on October 19, 2006 at 6:25 AM
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Thank you very much blagging ....for your comment..
and wow you live in London too?...I wonder if we live near one another....so many here are from America or near to eachother...that I find it shocking when somebody lives near me...hahaha....I read a post from sombody the other day who was in a park up the road from where I live....I was fancinated by that too...
posted by
_Symphony_
on October 19, 2006 at 6:22 AM
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Thank you very much for sharing this with me...ladychardonnay
I am so sorry for your sad loss...it must have been awful for all of you involved.
posted by
_Symphony_
on October 19, 2006 at 6:20 AM
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Thanks very much for your comment Schatz ...
posted by
_Symphony_
on October 19, 2006 at 6:19 AM
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I definitely agree with you on this one...
Terminal illnesses are unpleasant for everyone involved and I don'u understand why anyone would chose to be kept alive through that kind of pain. Good post.
...and, I didn't know you lived in London, snap!
posted by
blagging
on October 19, 2006 at 6:13 AM
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my father had alot of medical problems
he had been having mini-strokes for years and was suffering from dementia and problems with his kidneys - but would not see a doctor. when he finally had the "major stroke" he lived for 2 weeks. he became very violent and abusive to the family and medical staff and it was so hard to watch. he also hallucinated sometimes that he was back in the army and would try to escape the hospital. i honestly could not visit him after he pushed a sandwich in my face - he died the next day. very sad stuff.
posted by
ladychardonnay
on October 19, 2006 at 6:04 AM
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Yes, I think we all should have the right to die if we're hopelessly and
painfully ill. That's my opinion.
posted by
Schatz
on October 19, 2006 at 6:02 AM
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