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It's getting harder to die

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Re: It's getting harder to die

#41

Post by ttcbj »

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 hear you. I’m almost 50, and see it coming as well. I highly recommend the book Outlive by Peter Attia. Just found it recently, wish I had read it at 37. It has really good ideas on extending your “health span “.

Re: It's getting harder to die

#42

Post by bamboozled »

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…

I’ve witnessed similar and in a way, I think the person was kept alive too long. I personally think they would’ve died from other causes well before it got to the stage they were at. Euthanasia is probably a pretty important thing because of this. If we’re going to resuscitate people in their 80s, then maybe we shouldn’t let them go through the “long death” a few years later.

All in all it’s a tragic thing the only constellation is that I guess after 24 hours in that, one welcomes death with open arms.

Re: It's getting harder to die

#43

Post by nsguy »

fibonachos wrote: post #33
nsguy wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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’…

Nice! In my experience small issues can escalate if left unchecked because you start compensating and your body also "learns" to do things the wrong way.

Re: It's getting harder to die

#44

Post by spondylosaurus »

globalnode wrote: post #35

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 lif…

At-home hospice care exists for exactly this reason :)

Re: It's getting harder to die

#45

Post by bamboozled »

louwrentius wrote: post #26
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…

I’m quite convinced that I live in a country where we never let people die like this. Also, I guess prolonging treatment is in the interest of for-profit hospitals as found in other countries, thus as long as your suffering is profitable, you wil…

I made a similar comment already but I kind of agree. I’m not sure if it’s about profit it’s also about legal concerns. I think legally doctors are supposed to keep you alive until they can’t anymore?

Re: It's getting harder to die

#46

Post by ksenzee »

louwrentius wrote: post #26
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…

I’m quite convinced that I live in a country where we never let people die like this. Also, I guess prolonging treatment is in the interest of for-profit hospitals as found in other countries, thus as long as your suffering is profitable, you wil…

I would be surprised if there exists a country where people never die like this. You would have to euthanize every single person who died of a long list of natural causes.

Re: It's getting harder to die

#47

Post by j_bum »

Slightly tangential, but I believe this article segues into a discussion about assisted suicide or euthanasia at the end of life.

My entire family has been suffering over the past 18 months watching my 88-year-old grandmother slowly pass away from age-related deterioration and AD.

I worked with mice during my PhD training in the US. If a lab was caught with lab mice suffering like my grandmother is without euthanizing them, the lab would be liable to be shut down.

So I ask: why am I forced to sit and watch my grandmother suffer slowly to death? Why can't there be assisted suicide/euthanasia protocols in place to prevent this suffering?

Re: It's getting harder to die

#48

Post by spondylosaurus »

FactKnower69 wrote: post #9

a Christian fundamentalist doing a 180 on Terri Schiavo because she rediscovered Luddism is certainly an interesting take

The fundamentalist stance on Schiavo's case (to continue care at all costs) was always interesting/puzzling to me. On some level I would assume that people with a strong belief in the afterlife would be more open to letting people pass from this mortal earth than those of us who don't have strong beliefs about an afterlife... but clearly that wasn't the case :P

Re: It's getting harder to die

#49

Post by ksenzee »

bamboozled wrote: post #45
louwrentius wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m quite convinced that I live in a country where we never let people die like this. Also, I guess prolonging treatment is in the interest of for-profit hospitals as found in other countries, thus as long as your suffering is profitable, you wil…

I made a similar comment already but I kind of agree. I’m not sure if it’s about profit it’s also about legal concerns. I think legally doctors are supposed to keep you alive until they can’t anymore?

No, truly, doctors are not legally required to keep people alive against their will. It’s just that you have to have made it clear in advance what kind of life-saving and comfort measures you want. You have to say “yeah actually I don’t want all that.” It’s hard on the doctors to watch people dying painfully with too much life support, too. They know what kind of death they want, and it’s not that. (As the article reflects.)

Re: It's getting harder to die

#50

Post by globalnode »

spondylosaurus wrote: post #44
globalnode wrote: post #35

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 lif…

At-home hospice care exists for exactly this reason :)

" very very very expensive home care "
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