This article talked about an NGO in Lebanon “SANAD” that helps the terminally ill and their families in the last days by providing home care at the final hours.
I love this idea, such dark hours/days should be private, not to be tied to tubes in a cold room in a hospital.
However, I would like to extend this idea abit more, I’m all for granting people the right to end their lives. Religions aside, and to distinguish it from suicide. I’m calling for the right to end my life if I am terminally ill.
This is my body, no law, no government have the right to control it. I should have the right to disable the degradation of my mental health with each passing moment after being identified as terminally ill, i have the right to disable the degradation of my body, I have the right to ease the emotional/financial suffering of those who are with me waiting with for me to slip into the good night.
I have witnessed the degradation of health, I have witnessed the 5 stages of grief of a woman, the mother of my best friend and I’m proud that she considered me her son. I have seen her wither away and succumb to cancer, to spend the last 2 days on morphine while her kids and doctors watching in misery her body parts shutting down one by one til she passed.
A friend’s dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in his brain. The tumor put pressure on his brain while the doctors sat still because surgery was not an option, the family watched their dad have seizures at times, hallucinations, loss of memory, involuntary reflexes until he passed.
Seeing someone dying this way is hard, loved ones waiting for the inevitable flatline sound is haunting.
I don’t want to end this way, I want to have a good dinner with family and friends, then go.
Pain management is another comforting word for euthanasia. Doctors do it all the time, every single day, why should a doctor have the legal capacity to “pain manage” me, while I can’t end my life on my own terms and time of choosing?
Another thing, I hope by the time I’m old, they would allow cremation here, I would rather be cremated than knowing that my body would be degrading and decomposing over time to be worm food.
I have reached the article mentioned above through this blog
Doomish:
Brave, Courageous and bold.
Long live his fame,
and long live his glory.
Long may his worthless posts be told.
Have you watched the movie ‘you don’t know jack’? It also talks about similar issue. I haven’t watched it yet. The mother of one of the girls I know had cancer. They had to make the decision whether or not to pull the plug. Didn’t ask her for details I.e. What their decision was. But she did tell me that it is the worst situation to be in.. To decide for a patient who is not able to make such a decision coz they’re not conscious etc. Life is complex. I hope and pray no one finds themselves in such a situation.