Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

It's getting harder to die

plough.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 255 posts

Re: It's getting harder to die

#31

Post by magnetowasright »

Modified3019 wrote: post #2

The topic of a “living will” came up in a family discussion after my mother’s funeral. None of us have a pathological desire to live at all costs, but as it turns out, figuring out when to say “yeah I’m done, see yah” and halt treatment is way more complex than it first seems, especially when making the decision for someone else. Things can happen very fast, and there’s a bunch of things that basically require a job…

The Order of the Good Death has loads of resources on how to have these conversations, what your options for advanced directives etc. are, and guides on how to set everything up.

https://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/

They also do a lot of advocacy around green burial, alkaline hydrolysis, and whatnot as well.

Caitlin Doughty (who founded the Order of the Good Death) Ask a Mortician channel on youtube covers this stuff too, but the older videos might be out of date.

Re: It's getting harder to die

#32

Post by mcshicks »

Had a pretty close childhood friend choose assisted suicide (in California) a few years ago after a year long battle with blood cancer. It's not easy to do, I think his biggest fear was losing his ability to consent as his mental condition declined rapidly. The link below outlines the process. He was getting home hospice care staying at an Aunt's house hear the hospital he was treated at. I don't think it is the right choice for everybody, but I certainly think in my friends case it was.

https://www.uclahealth.org/patient-resources/support-informa...

Re: It's getting harder to die

#33

Post by fibonachos »

nsguy wrote: post #23
ericmcer wrote: post #3

Kind of a tough read, I just turned 37 and this was the year when it really hit home that your body degrades and sometimes it never goes back to "normal". I was used to sports injuries being a pattern of injury -> recovery -> ramp back up to 100%, but have suffered some injuries recently and am coming to terms with realizing I will never return to 100%. They will be lingering things I deal with for the rest of my lif…

I'm a fair bit older than you... What you're saying is true but it's also worth mentioning your body has capabilities you're probably far from reaching. Most people your age can still exceed any physical accomplishment they've had in their lifetime if they really want to. E.g. they can play sports better than they ever had and they can achieve personal bests in any physical ability. If you were a top level profession…

I’m in my late forties and sprained my back/hip pretty badly right at the start of COVID. A year later I was having trouble descending stairs and starting to develop knee pain on the same side of my body. So I began a fairly rigorous resistance training program about two years ago with hopes of regaining full mobility. The results have been fantastic. I still have a bit of pain from in both the knee and back, but it’s not disruptive. Most importantly, I have normal mobility and the injured areas have stabilized. With any luck it will continue to improve so long as I stick with it. That’s in addition to all the other benefits that come with being in better physical shape.

Re: It's getting harder to die

#35

Post by globalnode »

if you opt to stay home to die but youre in terrible pain, who's going to administer the pain meds? whos going to be there 24/7 to clean up or get you whatever you need? what this article is talking about is either very very very expensive home care or a family that basically become full time carers. with our society no longer advocating communal living and a sort of "every man for themselves" attitude throughout life, how is all of this actually supposed to work in reality? -- nice sentiment but unrealistic except for a very lucky few it seems. this is what hospitals are for now.

Re: It's getting harder to die

#36

Post by JansjoFromIkea »

Modified3019 wrote: post #2

The topic of a “living will” came up in a family discussion after my mother’s funeral. None of us have a pathological desire to live at all costs, but as it turns out, figuring out when to say “yeah I’m done, see yah” and halt treatment is way more complex than it first seems, especially when making the decision for someone else. Things can happen very fast, and there’s a bunch of things that basically require a job…

"especially when making the decision for someone else"

This gets additionally terrible when it's for someone else whilst handling the wishes of everyone else with significant ties to them.

Had a relative die a while back who was going through absolute hell the final few days; some family members still have a massive grudge towards the hospice for what they feel like were moves done to ensure they died quicker. I've absolutely no clue why they seemed to think dying in massive pain over a longer span of time seemed better but they did.

Re: It's getting harder to die

#37

Post by blue_dragon »

01HNNWZ0MV43FF wrote: post #28
Theodores wrote: post #16

This is a really good article, not least for the list of ways that you will be kept medically alive. As for the premise of the article, it is definitely getting easier to die. We had the plumbers and the rubbish collecting workers clear up our communicable chronic diseases, we de-industrialised and cleared up the air, we quit smoking, put on our seat belts and reigned in the alcohol. So far so good. But, if you look…

I mean Biden also comes off slow cause of his stutter. He just has to survive inauguration.

To me, Biden comes off as slow because he frequently trails off mid-sentence without finishing his thoughts.

Re: It's getting harder to die

#38

Post by paulpauper »

Theodores wrote: post #16

This is a really good article, not least for the list of ways that you will be kept medically alive. As for the premise of the article, it is definitely getting easier to die. We had the plumbers and the rubbish collecting workers clear up our communicable chronic diseases, we de-industrialised and cleared up the air, we quit smoking, put on our seat belts and reigned in the alcohol. So far so good. But, if you look…

I am not a fan of Biden , but for an octogenarian to go on a stage and debate extemporaneously like that , as poor as his performance was, puts him in an above average category of health or capabilities. The average 80 year old does not exist (average life expectancy is 78) or much worse shape overall. We're not talking doing crossword puzzles, but stepping up on a stage before a national audience as President and debating. I think part of the perception of his bad performance can be explained by overinflated expectations. Trump's performance was not much better--not answering questions and defaulting to a few points that he attempted to shoehorn at every turn to speak-- but, yes, he looked and sounded better. Again, Trump is also an exception: it helped that his dad lived to 93; good genes are a thing.

Re: It's getting harder to die

#39

Post by camel_gopher »

vundercind wrote: post #11

Recently watched someone close die over a couple days, after a long decline. The last 24 hours were monstrous to inflict on anyone. Torture. Evil. Hours and hours of faltering breathing, often restarting with what was plainly a panicked adrenaline-pumping response. It looked like they felt like they were about to drown every few minutes , hour, after hour, no relief. No IV fluids (terminal anyway, so no trying to kee…

That breathing pattern is called the death rattle.

Re: It's getting harder to die

#40

Post by TriangleEdge »

I'd like to see a survey about opinions on keeping people alive using modern medicine. The survey would have a filter for people who believe in evolution and survival of the fittest. How is the cognitive dissonance around it resolved?
Post reply on HN