Euthanasia

OUT OF HOURS HEALTH AND FAMILY (INTERACTIVE)
1

One of the good things about living in Belgium is that Euthanasia is legal.My wife and I obtained the relevant paperwork from the local council office a few weeks ago,we are both very much for it.

It all started off a couple of years ago when one of our neighbours was diagnosed with stomach cancer,she was dead within 7 weeks at the age of 42.She left behind two teenage sons and a husband.
Having suffered for 7 weeks and with increasing doses of morphine,she herself decided that she’d had enough,she just couldn’t bear the pain any longer,and knew she would not survive much longer.
The morning she died,her youngest son was outside,just before the doctor arrived to administer the injection,and he matter of factly said “Mum is going to die this morning”.It was heartbreaking.

Another of our neighbours also had a relative that was diagnosed with stomach cancer,around 4 months ago.He however had not obtained the relevant paperwork,and he laid in hospital for several weeks in severe pain,pain that eventually the morphine could not control.
He was screaming in agony,begging the doctors to end his life and put him out of his misery.But they could not.

My mother-in-law has been in an old people’s home for over 10 years now,she has dementia and doesn’t recognise anybody,in fact she hasn’t even spoken a word for the last five years.What sort of existence or quality of life is that?

My wife and I both agree,we would not want to go on if we were in a similar position.We would not want to sit there,day after day,relying on someone to feed us,to wash us or to wipe our bums.

If perhaps I was paralysed,even though my brain might be fully functioning and I was aware of what is going on around me,I would still choose Euthanasia,I would find it too frustrating being a prisoner inside my body.

A lot of people don’t agree with it,but you wouldn’t let an animal suffer that way,and we are all living beings.

So,what do you think?

2

I have the Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, an incurable and untreatable degenerative neurological condition, and it is in my End of Life Plan as part of my medical notes that I do not ever intend on being dependent on others having been fiercely independant throughout the rest of my life. To this end, I shall commit suicide - or, more likely, assisted suicide - when the time comes. I am not alone in this decision, and my MS team (Specialist Nurse, Neurologist, etc) are fully supportive of my choice, even though they are not legally permitted to aid it.

I hope and pray that by then one of two things happens. Either someone comes up with a cure, or the law is changed so that I can die at home rather than having to go when I am still fit to travel overseas. If I end up having to travel, a dear friend has volunteered to accompany me, so as to spare my family. There are those who would argue that my kids (who will, hopefully, be adults by then) need me to stay alive, but I take the view that I don’t want their last memories of me to be of wiping my backside and similar indignities, so I’ll not allow that to happen.

I’m involved in canine rescue, and we do not allow dogs to suffer at the end of their lives. I work long and hard with these animals, and if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me.

There is basically a two way split of opinion on this one, both within the MS community and the disabled community at large. The “anti” side say that people will feel emotionally pushed into euthanasia in order to avoid being a burden. My view, on the “pro” side, is that we should have the choice, and be credited with enough emotional intelligence to make that choice for the right reasons for us.

3

Lucy,I sincerely hope a cure is found for your condition before it’s too late.

My wife and I still have a way to go yet,the paper’s we have at the moment have to be signed by several witnesses,which is actually a more difficult thing to do than we thought.
Finding people who agree with Euthanasia is difficult,luckily our doctor has signed for us,as has my wife’s sister.
But the witnesses must not have any financial gain from our deaths,and the paper’s we have at the moment only allow a doctor to decide whether to end our life,we have to obtain other paperwork to allow us to decide when we’ve had enough.

But,I think it’s the right thing to do,to be able to end one’s own life with dignity and not have to suffer.

4

I voted for it, it’s the only dignified humane option as far as I see it.

5

I agree as we dont allow animals to suffer then why do we allow humans to suffer always have agreed with this

My sister in law found out she had cancer in the May she then died in the July 3 week after her daughters 21 bday but also left a younger son & daughter

I have also seen too many good friends / family suffer over the years

6

This is shockingly morbid stuff! Life is such a precious gift & has so many unexpected twists & turns it seems strange to me to get so low to plan to end it. But to each his own, I guess? I have done some dangerously bonkers things in my life & never expected to live this long but no way would I choose the snuff option . I mean the unhappy people that jump off balconies in condo’s - I bet when the fresh air hits them as they are halfway down wish they could’ve changed their minds.

7

harry:
This is shockingly morbid stuff! Life is such a precious gift & has so many unexpected twists & turns it seems strange to me to get so low to plan to end it. But to each his own, I guess? I have done some dangerously bonkers things in my life & never expected to live this long but no way would I choose the snuff option . I mean the unhappy people that jump off balconies in condo’s - I bet when the fresh air hits them as they are halfway down wish they could’ve changed their minds.

I agree with you harry,life is precious and I intend to live life to the full for as long as I can,but,what I am planning for the future is a dignified way to end my life without having to suffer in pain for years or laying there being a vegetable.

I have had extermely low points in my life,but have never considered suicide,which I consider a very selfish way out as it’s the loved ones that are left behind who then suffer the guilt of ‘If only we’d have…’.

8

I voted for legal euthanasia but my reasons are slightly different, my mum was totally organised in life and before her untimely death. She had a heart attack and was admitted to specialist care, unbeknown to us she had asked the doctors to remove all the monitoring equipment from her room while she had her two sons as visitors that evening to which they agreed for an hour.

We spoke to the doctors after visiting time and they told us her chances were good and we should go home, although they were prepared to offer us a room next to the ward. The following morning during my phone call to the hospital my mum died of a second fatal heart attack less than 24 hours after the first.

However in her will which was all sealed up in an envelope in a drawer which we had known about for about 20 years she had written that she wanted no hospital intervention or medical machinery to keep her alive, all her other papers were in order with people to call, which undertaker she wanted and even how she was to travel her last journey. organised to the end, that was my mum :slight_smile:

My brothers situation was very different as he was taken ill at work and transferred to hospital where he remained in a coma for 8 days. I was in France and travelled home overnight to be at the hospital with his wife. We had to take the decision on the Sunday evening a week after he collapsed to turn off life support which all the neurologists had agreed with. There was no sign of brain activity and the small chance of PVS was not there.

Occasionally I suffer pangs of guilt and wonder, "what if? I have spoken to my sister in law and she has had the same thoughts, but we both know that Peter would not have thanked us for keeping him a moment longer on life support. He had never been in hospital in his life and when I went in for a hip replacement, 10 or 11 years earlier, he went away on holiday and asked a good friend to visit me each day to avoid him visiting.

Last year I took my friend and her dog to the vet because she was suffering from cancer, we came home alone, so if we can do it for a dog, we should be allowed to choose for ourselves. My Auntie has Alzheimers, she doesn’t know her immediate family, she cannot even remember having her lunch or whether she fed her own dog, what kind of life is that?

9

harry:
This is shockingly morbid stuff! Life is such a precious gift

Sorry have to disagree this is not a shocking or morbid subject at all I discussed something like this with my 2 children many years ago ( they are now 22 & 21 )

I have seen too many people I know suffer & would have rather give them a dignified death rather than se them suffer like they did

I remember having a conversation with my grandfather where he said he was tired of living stop the world I want to get off not long after that he took ill & had to go into hospital which he had never been in his long life they kept him alive for 3 weeks although he was conscious most of the time he had to be fed like a baby where he felt he had lost his dignity he then died aged 93 a similar thing had happened 3 years before to his wife her funeral was on what would have been there 67 th wedding anniversary she was 88 I wish they hospital was allowed to let them both die with some dignity and not lie in hospital wasting away like they did

10

harry:
This is shockingly morbid stuff! Life is such a precious gift & has so many unexpected twists & turns it seems strange to me to get so low to plan to end it.

Thing is, when your doctor sits you down and TELLS you to think about your End of Life Plan, it becomes a whole different ball game, Harry. Especially when you’re only 29 at the time. For me it’s not a matter of “getting low”, it’s a matter of having no choice. My disease WILL carry me off prematurely, therefore I HAVE to think about how that happens. Better to do it now whilst I have full capacity to do so, than be forced to make these kind of decisions too far down the line to be able to do anything about them. Now the decision has been made, I can get on and live my life to the full, knowing that the burden of doubt and worry about the future has been lifted.

I’ll go when I’m ready. When I[/i] choose, not my MS.

11

Horses for courses .I am not against Euthanasia but hope that’s a bridge I never have to cross.

12

chroniclelive.co.uk/north-ea … _page.html

This was his decision to die with some dignity

13

114 views to date and only 14 votes, good to see there are no negatives though

14

Life is very precious & the desision should never be taken lightly - once gone can never be returned . If somebody is terminaly ill & suffering badly then surely they should be allowed the right to choose to end their life with dignity.

15

My Auntie has Alzheimers, she doesn’t know her immediate family, she cannot even remember having her lunch or whether she fed her own dog, what kind of life is that?

Just an update on this, having returned from a visit to Yorkshire. My Auntie has now been placed in a home because she was violent to my uncle, I am not sure how violent an 85 year old can become but my Uncle was found suffering in silence, weighing under 7 stone because of the worry of looking after his own wife.

This is a positive step for him, although we are struggling to understand how the hell a pensioner is supposed to find £1500 per month to pay for private care is beyond us at the moment. The thing is, this elderly lady could live another 10 years, again I ask what sort of life though?

Euthanasia may not be an answer now as she isn’t in a fit position to make her own decisions, she doesn’t know whether her arse is clean or even that she owns a dog :frowning:

16

yes vote from me.

I hope i’m never in Lucy’s position and if I ever am, that I could handle it with half as much pragmatism as she does.

It’s not an option that i think anyone would take lightly, but i know i don’t want to go past a certain point. Half the time it’s medical intervention that keeps you going past a natural point, so why not have intervention so that you can die at a time that you feel is best for you.

17

If the doctor ever tells me I only have a few months to go, then I will be off to the golden triangle to develop a serious opium habit.

I spent 3 weeks in ICU in 1992 after an accident and a further 6 months in hospital and about a year in physio.

And Im not going to go through anything like that again, thank you very much.

All the best.

18

I voted yes, mainly for the reasons that have been put above, but also for very selfish reasons.

In the past 6 yrs we have lost 3 members of my immediate family. Dad was lucky, if you can call it that, he died of heart faliure in his sleep, peacefull and fast. Unfortunatly Gran and Mum weren’t so lucky. Both suffered for several weeks before the end came, and both strong women were reduced to having everything done for them before they died. We all commented at the time that if we let any of our animals suffer like that we would have been locked up and banned from farming livestock for life.

The selfish part is the ammount of people who’s life’s are put on hold whilst waiting for the inevitable to happen. The jumping everytime a phone rings, incase its the call. Not being able to plan to do things incase you get the call and are too far away. The knowlege of what needs to be done but you can’t get on and organise it until you get that call.

As I said all very selfish reasons, and some will not understand them until they’ve been through it themselves. Yes, life is precious, but 20 people lost 3 months of their lives waiting for 1 to end. A life that, for those 3 months, wasn’t the life the person had ever led, and you could tell that the loss of freedom was hurting more than the effects of the brain cancer.

19

Steve I dont think you are being selfish at all just very practical as they / you could have decided when it was going to happen
( a better time for you & your family if there can be a better time ) if you know what I mean

20

im in favour of it whether terminally ill or not. i dont want to live long enough to retire and although i am not suicidal, i have no will to live. each individual should have the option to end their life whenever they like. no-one chooses to begin their life but everyone can choose to end their life. its like anything else. some love it, some loathe it. everyone is an individual and has their own opinion. who has the right to tell anyone they are not allowed to end their life?