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51 hours left to live

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Re: 51 hours left to live

#51
post #16
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Men have a 1 in 2 chance of getting cancer and then 1 in 4 of dying from it. Women 1 in 3 getting, 1 in 5 dying. http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerBasics/lifetime-probabili... Make every day count!

Those are interesting statistics, because I would guess that if you asked people about gender-specific cancers, the first thing that would pop into their head would be breast cancer, perhaps testicular cancer, then cervical cancer.

I imagine prostate cancer would be in that list, too.

Re: 51 hours left to live

#52
post #44
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sooo... you think Lucidending is sick from side effects, and thoughts of suicide will leave him once he stops taking these awful drugs? Perhaps his or her situation is not as parallel to yours as you think. It's hard to say based on the little data there is, but perhaps all that is left for him or her is palliative care.

I said no such thing and I have no idea where you are getting that idea. Given that cancer has spread to his brain and the hell he has clearly been through, I understand his choice. I've been in a similar situation. However, it just so happens that my efforts to stop the pain -- which conventional drugs were not effectively treating -- began killing the underlying infection. I was really quite annoyed when I realized…

Why doesn't conventional medicine recognize your form of treatment?

What exactly is your form of treatment anyway? Just letting the body do its thing?

Re: 51 hours left to live

#53
post #15

"Why do ordinary thoughts gain such credibility just because their source is dying?" I feel a bit guilty for thinking like this while reading the thread. Maybe a raw vision of mortality makes us emotional, less cynical, and we're more receptive as a result. Maybe we look to last words as an encapsulation of a person's life philosophy, as if they became wiser in the knowledge of imminent death. Or maybe an overly deta…

Because dying people have few ulterior motives.

It's ancient wisdom that dying people speak the truth.

"Living" people with "stuff to say" are more often than not full of bullshit.

Re: 51 hours left to live

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My worst fear is actually not to die. I don't believe in hell and the worst that can happen is that I stop to exist. My worst fear is the process of dying itself. After watching a close family member die of cancer, that process frightens me. If I end up in a similar situation, I'll move to Oregon as well.

My worst fear is to stop existing. I can't fathom that one day I'll just be done. That's it. Not watching the world on some big screen TV. Not appreciating what I've done. Just done, and eventually no one will have ever known I was here. I used to hope that as I approached death that I'd be so fulfilled with life that I'd be ready to go. I still hope that, but I'm less convinced that it will be so. It almost seems li…

This is why psychologists say you shouldn't draw foregone conclusions. You are assuming that death means non-exsistence, you should suspend your judgement, there is no benefit to jumping to conclusions.

Re: 51 hours left to live

#56
post #15

"Why do ordinary thoughts gain such credibility just because their source is dying?" I feel a bit guilty for thinking like this while reading the thread. Maybe a raw vision of mortality makes us emotional, less cynical, and we're more receptive as a result. Maybe we look to last words as an encapsulation of a person's life philosophy, as if they became wiser in the knowledge of imminent death. Or maybe an overly deta…

Because dying people have few ulterior motives. It's ancient wisdom that dying people speak the truth. "Living" people with "stuff to say" are more often than not full of bullshit.

It used to be that a dying person's confession was considered unvarnished truth in a court of law. More on "Dying Declaration" at the Wikipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_declaration

Re: 51 hours left to live

#59
I found this post on reddit uncomfortable, and I'm not sure why.

It's not because of death with dignity -- I'm a big fan. It's not because of not wanting to face my own mortality -- I know death awaits us all, and for me or some others it may come very soon indeed. Who knows when we will die?

But something about it just didn't ring true as something I would want to make happen over and over again. I think perhaps it is the forum and mechanics involved here. Would I want a site where people posted about their deaths and then others voted that post up or down? Then each comment was accordingly ranked? I don't think so.

Your life isn't the same as a news article or a blog entry, and it shouldn't be treated as such. Perhaps there is a site for broadcasting your last words to the world at large, and it sounds like something I would want to visit and participate in, but reddit ain't it.

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