I commented the other day about this death with dignity issue that has been in the news because of Britney Maynard. The subject strikes a personal chord with me.A well-meaning friend commented that this choice would not be hers, Finding every moment of life valuable and be shared with others. She then compared her experience with patients suffering from Alzheimers and their deaths. I am not writing this to change anyones mind about this subject.However, I do feel that some peoples opinions come from a different place.Im not referring to a death involving dementia, a lack of awareness, lack of dignity and sundowners. I am coming from a place of pain. Todays article that was posted comes from one dying patients letter to another and expresses the opinion that we are not meant to choose our time of death. As a person coming from a religious background, it is difficult to argue against that. Although, I think that some people are given opportunities to choose actions that could possibly lead to their deaths, usually in some heroic way. There is no heroism in this. However, I also dont believe that it is a fear of pain that leads people to make this choice.I have seen the result of not having this option firsthand. It leads to a long and agonizing wasting. The person who made the same choice, but did not have the assistance. There was no dignity. There was no quality of life to share with other family members. There was only pain and mindless suffering. By the time the pain was treated to our limited ability, there was a lack of consciousness.Every time the Morphine wore off she would regain consciousness,she would become aware of the pain, but she wasnt really aware of who we were, or that she was being cared for.In my own experience,I found the pain medicine could only reduce the pain by about 70%. I became aware that when my wife and father visited me, I would drift in and out of waking dreams. We would be carrying on a perfectly normal conversation, and suddenly I would start talking about a dream- from the dream state I had entered.Somehow I became aware of this, and we would laugh when I came back, about what a weird thing I just said or described.In this instance, there was hope. I was fighting for my life and I believed I would win I endured that pain and the visceral responses that came with it.There certainly was no dignity.Now I see patients in the oncology ward fighting the fight and enduring the pain.For them, there is hope. A chance at life. However, for those who are down to their last few weeks or months, and there is no chance and no hope, I believe there should be a choice. The suffering involved with choosing to stop hydrating or receiving nutrients as a way to end the suffering, Is Intense.I struggle with the notion that this choice is even suicide.The monikers associated just dont seem to apply. Dignity and suicide.Im also not sure that there even is a lesson to be learned in those last few weeks.By the time the patient with stage IV or five cancer, ALS, muscular dystrophy, or MS, reaches this point, all the lessons have been taught. As a person who will have to struggle with this choice, If I live long enough,I am grateful that the Oregon legislature and voters have given us this option.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 21:15:44 +0000
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