Dignity in Dying

[Kwacky]

https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm a support of this charity. It's a balanced approach IMO towards trying to deal with the difficult issue of bringing to an end someone's suffering.

They're worth checking out.

[Monty]

One of Sarah's best friends is their Director of Legal Strategy and Policy.

Funnily enough, she coming to stay with us for a week next week.

[StMarks]

Assisted dying is a very contentious issue, being responsible for the policy strategy for an organisation supporting it must require a person of superior integrity & intellect.

Fwiw I think that (for most of us) our views are very relative & subjective.

[duke63]

As you can imagine, very appropriate in our circumstances. MiL has already told the wife once she has had enough.

A friend, who wife died from cancer about a month ago, he told me his wife asked if they could look at travelling to Dignitas in in Switzerland but he said he couldn’t do it as he thought he would’ve vilified for it rather than getting the support he would need.

We need change.

[D41]

I think the choices are as personal, and as individual, as the people who make them. By the time of my father's passing, his life was little more than a heartbeat, & with only one certain outcome....his life could be prolonged for my sake, or ended for his - but the end result would still be the same.
I'm not "happy" that he went out like that, but I am at peace with it. And he is at peace also.

[duke63]

Once someone has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, they should be the ones driving their future, not a collection of doctors (whose opinions vary significantly anyway), imho.

[D41]

Maybe. Perhaps. Who's opinion do you go by when the person with the terminal illness is a child??
The parents will invariably want the child to live a full life, the doctors are going to do their best to assist in that...I mean, that's kinda what doctors do. I don't see a problem with that.

[Kwacky]

The law would only be changed for adults who are able to give consent.

[D41]

You've lost me.

[duke63]

The role of a Doctor is usually to keep that person alive as long as possible, quality of life rarely enters their thinking.

[kiwikrasher]

It’s now legal in Victoria here in Aussie as of about 6 weeks ago. Bill was passed back in November 2017 but given 18 months to implement. As of late June 2019 it was a legal option. There is a very rigorous eligibility checklist, heard on one news article there were 27 points that had to be met.

The basics of the law are here
https://www.theage.com.au/national/vict ... 51qeb.html

One person has since used this option. She was riddled with cancer and had limited time left. I watched an interview with her daughter and she said the decision her mum made to end her suffering was far easier to accept than her terminal diagnosis. She felt her mum got to pass with dignity, surrounded by loved ones, and in peace.

I hope our other states follow suit. It happens unofficially anyway. This way it’s controlled and checks are completed to ensure the integrity of the decision.

[duke63]

There is no dignity lying in a bed, totally out of it on drugs and with no control over bodily functions.

There is dignity in saying I have had enough and do not want to end up that way.

[Monty]

^That

[D41]

There is no dignity lying in a bed, totally out of it on drugs and with no control over bodily functions.

That sounds just like me 4 years ago.

[Rossgo]

There is no dignity lying in a bed, totally out of it on drugs and with no control over bodily functions.

There is dignity in saying I have had enough and do not want to end up that way.

Well said duke. We defo need to change

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

[duke63]

Watching someone you have known for 35+years fade away, sitting in a chair, waiting for the inevitable, is incredibly sad.

In the space of less than 6 months, MiL has gone from being healthy for a 78 year old, to someone who has no interest in life at all.

[Frankie]

It is very sad, this is why the law needs to change, i know most of my family are of the same view, nobody want to be hanging around, its no life at all.
But on the flip side there are still people who seem to want to hang on, regardless. Old woman next door to me does not get out of bed, she has carers in three times a day, two of them each time. Obvious does not want to go.
I cannot see me wanting to be in that state at all.....

[bb41]

It really is such a difficult subject.

Personally I've had 3 different scenarios... My brother had an accident and my Mum agreed to switch his life support when he was only 20 ...if he had had the accident now he could have recovered most likely with the advance of science.

My Dad died at 60 with a massive heart attack and died before he even hit the ground and my Mum died 4 years ago with asbestos cancer .

My Mum's was the most relevant in this case as she was very fit , swam every day . She survived Pancreatic cancer and had her 15 year all clear about 6 months prior to Mesothilioma .

She was well and planning to move with me to Wales on our last adventure together and the Dr's agreed they could keep her well for at least another 18 months.

That was in the October and as I'd exchanged on my house we were all set...only that didn't happen ..she rapidly went down hill and I had to move without her and commute 4 times a week

I believe she never had any intentions of going but as long as I did she felt OK as she deteriorated so quickly . I stayed with her 24/7 the last 2 weeks of her life and after nipping back to Wales for a few hours to check on my OH who took time off to care for my animals I had a call to say I need to get back .. A quick shower and back down the M4 and she was still conscious but only until I spoke to her and then the morphine driver started to take affect.

Our GP upped the dose after I got there and she never came round again

What I am trying to get at is there is a form of euthanasia nearing end of life but I think it depends on your GP .

For my Brother and Dad there were no good byes or the "I love you's" that I got in my Mum's last few days . We laughed , we cried , we helped plan her funeral together , we drank wine and both my daughters and I felt so grateful (although the nature of her illness was pretty horrific) our GP was amazing going above and beyond .

MND is another thing entirely so if one of my family had had this I'm not sure what I would say then.. my opinion changes so often