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The Forum > Article Comments > End of life care: my life my death my choice > Comments

End of life care: my life my death my choice : Comments

By Bill Alcock, published 4/12/2014

I am scared stiff that I may be confined indefinitely in a nursing home suffering from Alzheimer's, dementia, incontinence and the like.

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My mother was still living in her granny flat beside my house, with a lot of help, into her 98Th year. The treatment she received, or didn't receive, particularly from the casual weekend nursing staff, during a few days in a major Queensland public hospital, meant she never walked again.

We wanted her to go into the local country hospital for some physiotherapy treatment so she could come home, but no, her platelet count was too high for them to handle they said. Take her to the local nursing home they said. If they considered the nursing home more competent than they were, god help us.

Worse than for many others, she was still mentally sound. She could still recognise all the family, & talk sensibly. She lay in bed on her back, wishing to die, for 7 months.

I visited her 6 days a week, as I could imagine how dreadful it was for her. The Nursing home staff were amazed. Some of their patients were lucky to see anyone fortnightly.

I promised myself I would not go out that way. I'd left it too late to help her, we had expected her home, but I won't make that mistake myself.

Good luck Bill. I hope you get a satisfactory result.
Posted by Hasbeen, Thursday, 4 December 2014 1:28:45 PM
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Are we talking about suicide or the killing of another person ? If suicide, then with a bit of imagination, one can think of plenty of ways to do it, so when the time comes, just do it. I'm tossing up between walking into the sea; and falling off a cliff, although that would be too messy for someone else to clean up, so it'll probably be the sea.

But don't confuse the two different issues, suicide and taking someone else's life, no matter how selfless and noble we try to make it. It surely is up to the individual, not someone else - that opens the door to all manner of impropriety, to say the least.

If someone has trouble sleeping, as is common with us oldies, someone could leave a bottle of sleeping pills beside their bed, preferably (if it was me) next to a bottle of really good whisky.

But let's not let yet another OLO thread drift imperceptibly from suicide towards the taking of someone else's life, even 'for their own good', to 'stop their suffering', to 'give them a dignified ending'.

Joe
Posted by Loudmouth, Thursday, 4 December 2014 3:05:14 PM
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We already devalue life by having wars, when are all you OLO people against VE going to stand up for the untold misery wars create, you won't, because you agree with war, hypocrites abound
Posted by Ojnab, Thursday, 4 December 2014 3:21:19 PM
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Joe, what if you were incapacitated and unable to get to the sea to drown yourself?
If you and others aren't willing to support voluntary euthanasis, then that's fine, you can just linger on until the 'natural end'.
But surely this should be a matter of personal choice?

Countries that currently support voluntary euthanasia have not seen a mad rush for these services, and neither has there been any further 'slippery slopes' towards doing away with all the aged or disabled.
So what is the real problem here then?
Posted by Suseonline, Thursday, 4 December 2014 3:27:00 PM
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Ah Suse,

The next step in the 'slippery slope' is to argue the case for someone who is not only incapacitated, but unable to communicate their wishes, etc., yada yada. Incapacitated, how ? Unable to lift their hand to their mouth ?

Yes, of course, IF someone is near the end, i.e. within hours or a day or so, and needs to have their pain relieved, even IF the morphine or whatever may hasten their end, then yes, of course, IF they clearly understand the consequences, and in a public space like a hospital, with treatment administered by health professionals according to a recognised protocol, not by relations, then okay.

But someone who is insensible -and not in pain - no, that's closer to murder. A relation involved ? That's getting close.

Just trying to tease this out :)

Joe
Posted by Loudmouth, Thursday, 4 December 2014 3:50:25 PM
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Ah Joe,
no one is suggesting we let relations do the final injection though are we?

It will always be a health professional who should give the injection, and it will only be given if we have had specific instructions re when the right time will be......from the express wishes, signed and witnessed by a non-related person, of the patient.

As far as I can tell, this is the way it is done in the European countries that allow voluntary euthanasia for terminally ill people.

Yes, we do currently try and 'assist' patients in their last days and hours of a terminal illness, but many have already been pleading with us to end it all long before they lose consciousness and linger for yet more weeks or days during which the family then takes over pleading with us to end it all.

But we can't, because we would be put in jail......
Posted by Suseonline, Friday, 5 December 2014 12:04:46 AM
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