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Think you want to die at home? You might want to think twice about that

latimes.com

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Re: Think you want to die at home? You might want to think twice about that

#21

Post by chx »

kylec wrote: post #6

I feel like more people should consider euthanasia. If caring for you is a huge physical and financial burden, and you're basically waiting to die anyway , why not just get it over with?

I am.

I have decided years ago and I do not see this changing significantly that once my mortgage is paid down -- which is approximately in eight years -- I just want to die, I will be 53 by then. By then the so called "bucket list" will be empty. I am living alone and this I can't see changing any time soon. Do not think I am suicidal or depressed -- I have three international trips booked for this year already and so on. I am just utterly practical. Nothing frightens me more than living with a slowly fading mind in a much more rapidly failing body.

Canada where I live has allowed medical assistance in dying since 2016 doesn't allow for this. I do not expect to be terminally ill and so I can't just decide, not even if I make a declaration ten years beforehands, that I want to end it in dignity and without pain. You can't. You can extend it far beyond where life is enjoyable, it is indeed the default expectation to do so but ending it, that's not allowed.

Re: Think you want to die at home? You might want to think twice about that

#22

Post by thanatropism »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #13
kylec wrote: post #6

I feel like more people should consider euthanasia. If caring for you is a huge physical and financial burden, and you're basically waiting to die anyway , why not just get it over with?

I'm pro right to die, but it's complicated. If we start killing people "because you are a burden to your family," that's a rather ugly slippery slope that flies in the face of most moral and legal precedents that say "Love and legal obligation mean staying to the bitter end and never faltering in your duty." Most people with something terribly wrong are holding out hope for some new breakthrough -- some new drug or t…

Maybe the euthanasia is better left un-codified. It's not difficult to obtain the means for relatively comfortable suicide -- and people do it left and right, mostly for reasons of mental illness -- so it's not like people are being oppressed by not having such a "right".

Re: Think you want to die at home? You might want to think twice about that

#23

Post by DoreenMichele »

gHosts wrote: post #17
DoreenMichele wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pro right to die, but it's complicated. If we start killing people "because you are a burden to your family," that's a rather ugly slippery slope that flies in the face of most moral and legal precedents that say "Love and legal obligation mean staying to the bitter end and never faltering in your duty." Most people with something terribly wrong are holding out hope for some new breakthrough -- some new drug or t…

I don't think there is a euthanasia bill passed or even on the table in the entire planet where "we start killing people because you" is acceptable. That's just plain FUD. They are all, "The patient, being of sound mind, jumps through a large bunch of legal hurdles to be permitted to exit peacefully and painlessly." > "Most people with something terribly wrong are holding out hope" We're talking about people inches f…

No, it's not FUD. It's called conversation. I was engaging the point made that "if you are just a burden to your family..."

There doesn't need to be legislation in the works somewhere on planet Earth for it to be a valid point to say "Yeah, that's a super bad reason to agree someone should die and here's why."

I stated up front I'm pro right to die. I have a Dread Disease myself. I'm abundantly familiar with the other side of the equation of "I want to check out now, thanks. I've had enough."

I did touch on that aspect in my comment. My Dread Disease is why I think I should have the right to decide "No, seriously, I've had enough. I want out and this is the only way out of this torturous prison called my defective body."

Re: Think you want to die at home? You might want to think twice about that

#24

Post by gumby »

My mother in law died at home (in the same room in which she had been born sixty years prior in the middle of WWII) and despite the twice-daily visits from the Diakonie nurse to change dressings and feed her (German home visit paid for from church tax) the burden of caring for her in her final months fell harshly on her two youngest daughters.

Compare that to my paternal grandmother who could see the writing on the wall and moved herself into care so her kids wouldn't have to deal with it. As her vision and hearing decayed, and then she started to lose her short term memory she told me she realized she was just hanging around to get a letter from the Queen which she decided was pointless so offed herself* before she became unable to do so. She told me that she couldn't have done that at home -- too hard on her (by then senior citizen) kids.

* (Unfortunately euthanasia was not legal in South Australia so she had to starve herself to death at 98).

Re: Think you want to die at home? You might want to think twice about that

#25

Post by Polylactic_acid »

gHosts wrote: post #17
DoreenMichele wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pro right to die, but it's complicated. If we start killing people "because you are a burden to your family," that's a rather ugly slippery slope that flies in the face of most moral and legal precedents that say "Love and legal obligation mean staying to the bitter end and never faltering in your duty." Most people with something terribly wrong are holding out hope for some new breakthrough -- some new drug or t…

I don't think there is a euthanasia bill passed or even on the table in the entire planet where "we start killing people because you" is acceptable. That's just plain FUD. They are all, "The patient, being of sound mind, jumps through a large bunch of legal hurdles to be permitted to exit peacefully and painlessly." > "Most people with something terribly wrong are holding out hope" We're talking about people inches f…

>That's just plain FUD.

Yep, parts of Australia just approved a euthanasia bill and its full of so many restrictions there is next to no way it can be abused. I think the tl;dr is you have to have a terminal illness that will kill you in 6 months and which is causing you pain and you have to consent to it.

Re: Think you want to die at home? You might want to think twice about that

#26

Post by Polylactic_acid »

warent wrote: post #9
kylec wrote: post #6

I feel like more people should consider euthanasia. If caring for you is a huge physical and financial burden, and you're basically waiting to die anyway , why not just get it over with?

Assisted suicide is illegal throughout most of the USA so it's not even an option. Also, many people just aren't in a rush to die. Whatever your beliefs, one thing for certain is that it's a permanent and irreversible transition of some kind. It's unsettling, at least on primal levels.

Artificially keeping someone alive as a suffering vegetable is also unsettling.

Re: Think you want to die at home? You might want to think twice about that

#27

Post by DoreenMichele »

thanatropism wrote: post #22
DoreenMichele wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pro right to die, but it's complicated. If we start killing people "because you are a burden to your family," that's a rather ugly slippery slope that flies in the face of most moral and legal precedents that say "Love and legal obligation mean staying to the bitter end and never faltering in your duty." Most people with something terribly wrong are holding out hope for some new breakthrough -- some new drug or t…

Maybe the euthanasia is better left un-codified. It's not difficult to obtain the means for relatively comfortable suicide -- and people do it left and right, mostly for reasons of mental illness -- so it's not like people are being oppressed by not having such a "right".

I occasionally wonder how many people with something terribly wrong sort of secretly commit suicide by "accidentally" screwing up their meds or something.

Re: Think you want to die at home? You might want to think twice about that

#28

Post by riku_iki »

chx wrote: post #21
kylec wrote: post #6

I feel like more people should consider euthanasia. If caring for you is a huge physical and financial burden, and you're basically waiting to die anyway , why not just get it over with?

I am. I have decided years ago and I do not see this changing significantly that once my mortgage is paid down -- which is approximately in eight years -- I just want to die, I will be 53 by then. By then the so called "bucket list" will be empty. I am living alone and this I can't see changing any time soon. Do not think I am suicidal or depressed -- I have three international trips booked for this year already and…

53 looks young enough to be active, enjoy life and add value to society if you take care of your health.

Re: Think you want to die at home? You might want to think twice about that

#29

Post by rubidium »

chx wrote: post #21
kylec wrote: post #6

I feel like more people should consider euthanasia. If caring for you is a huge physical and financial burden, and you're basically waiting to die anyway , why not just get it over with?

I am. I have decided years ago and I do not see this changing significantly that once my mortgage is paid down -- which is approximately in eight years -- I just want to die, I will be 53 by then. By then the so called "bucket list" will be empty. I am living alone and this I can't see changing any time soon. Do not think I am suicidal or depressed -- I have three international trips booked for this year already and…

I sure hope that you’ve talked some 65+ year olds who are loving their life. Suffering is not the same as evil. With old age typically comes suffering. But my great grandma lived to be a 102 and loved her life to the end.

Re: Think you want to die at home? You might want to think twice about that

#30

Post by erikerikson »

We could optimize for quality of life rather than length of life. It'd sure help that be a more positive experience if we inverted that.

Give me a good life over a long one, within responsibile parameters, it was always temporary. Frankly, I'm glad for that.

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