If we have terrible suffering, should we exit life or stay alive to the last breath?

I have been pretty damn sick through Chemo and I do remember times laying in bed when I lost a lot of weight just staring at my son who was at my bedside and thinking this is it. I consider myself a fighter though and I will always fight til the end no matter how down I am. So til the end I will go.
 

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garyt1957 said:
I tend to agree, but the same goes for the people ( like me) who say when the time comes sign me up for assisted suicide, or give me a gun and I'll kill myself. You may think that way now, but you won't really know till the time comes.
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Good perspective from the other side of the coin!
 
When the time comes, only what is practical can be done. Best to just play games to distract oneself when pain is severe. I play Civilization VI and somehow never die from it but it distracts me from all pain.
 

palides2021 said:
One final thought, as long as I breathe, and medicine and technology is available to help me live a few days, months, or years longer, I will opt for that. Once I give out my last breath, there's no returning, and I've forfeited my chance to life or to better health, or to be with my family, even if it might be painful. These are my thoughts, and I respect your thoughts also. Have a wonderful day!
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Shalom today to you and your household.
One more thought that many people over the years have found very interesting at least, and often helpful -
besides drugs, there are many simple helps to alleviate almost any pain. This is not accepted nor authorized under the legal medical system in the usa and likely not in many other countries also, but can still be found , hopefully, without too much difficulty and at a very low price, and no toxicity, no side effects as an extra benefit/incentive to find out. Seek out and Read as much as you can find , and talk with other people or even support groups if you can find one that utilizes grandma's old remedies and /or alternative directions from what is officially allowed.
 
Just Jeff said:
Shalom today to you and your household.
One more thought that many people over the years have found very interesting at least, and often helpful -
besides drugs, there are many simple helps to alleviate almost any pain. This is not accepted nor authorized under the legal medical system in the usa and likely not in many other countries also, but can still be found , hopefully, without too much difficulty and at a very low price, and no toxicity, no side effects as an extra benefit/incentive to find out. Seek out and Read as much as you can find , and talk with other people or even support groups if you can find one that utilizes grandma's old remedies and /or alternative directions from what is officially allowed.
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You and my son are on the same page Jeff. I'm sure if I'm ever suffering due to pain, he would try seek out holistic methods for me. Sometimes it will come up in passing about different health issues.

@palides2021 @JonSR77 Like both of you, assisted suicide would be out of the question for me too because suicide is considered a major sin in Islam. I would hope pain management techniques would work very well. šŸ˜©
 
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OneEyedDiva said:
You and my son are on the same page Jeff. I'm sure if I'm ever suffering due to pain, he would try seek out holistic methods for me. Sometimes it will come up in passing about different health issues.
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COOL! Today is the day to find out - tomorrow or next week, next month, or next year it may be banned by then, and/or too late.
 
My mother was in terrible pain before she died. Morphine would not touch it, so the doctor kept increasing the dose until it worked. Before she went into hospice, my mother, sister, and I had to agree that the doctors could give her even a lethal dose, if that is what her pain level required. We all readily agreed. And that is what happened.

My plan is to exit life when it becomes warranted: pain and being put into a nursing home are the two factors I will consider. I expect that my life, should that time arise, will be near the end anyway.
 
I think we should fight until the last breath.

My uncle took his life in 1987.

I have had problems with depression.

Violent crime victim in 1982. Was very suicidal in 1983 and 1984.

From my own experiences, yes, I think we should fight until the last breath.
 
Suicide Resources


National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Hours: Available 24 hours. Languages: English, Spanish.
800-273-8255

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
We can all help prevent suicide. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States.
1-800-273-8255

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

++++++++++++++++

International Suicide Hotlines

https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines

++++


From NAMI

How to Talk (and Listen) to Someone Experiencing Suicidal Thoughts


https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/September-2021/How-to-Talk-(and-Listen)-to-Someone-Experiencing-Suicidal-Thoughts

+++++++++++++++
 
JonSR77 said:
Suicide Resources


National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Hours: Available 24 hours. Languages: English, Spanish.
800-273-8255

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
We can all help prevent suicide. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States.
1-800-273-8255

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
++++++++++++++++

International Suicide Hotlines

https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines
++++


From NAMI

How to Talk (and Listen) to Someone Experiencing Suicidal Thoughts


https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blo...en)-to-Someone-Experiencing-Suicidal-Thoughts
+++++++++++++++
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There are resources for assisted suicide as well.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24182377/
 
If you are a Christian, you cannot take your own life. My mother suffered with lung disease for over 12 years. In her late stage she asked to be put in hospice. Up until then she really was not in physical pain, but great discomfort, not being able to get her breath. Hospice kept he comfortable and stopped her from being in any pain. They gave her morphine when she needed it, one night around 3am she quietly passed away. She did not suffer any pain, she just passed in her sleep.
 

If we have terrible suffering, should we exit life or stay alive to the last breath?​

I have looked forward to death nearly all of my life
 
Geezer Garage said:
It's rude to leave a mess for someone else to clean up. The problem lies in that those who are suicidal have often reached a point, that they are so immersed in their own misery, the outside world doesn't really exist for them. Mike

Quote: We did a welfare check one time for a elderly man who lived alone and found his lifeless body and a gun. Not a good sight to see and glad the family weren't there to see it.
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It's not that they're "rude" or "don't care." It's that they have no other option.
Anyone who has good reason to commit suicide would much rather go to have it nicely & neatly done legally. But what are they to do without that option?
And why do we have that option for our beloved pets & not humans?
 
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Em in Ohio said:
I want to die happy. I would not be happy if I was mentally or physically incapacitated. I miss Dr. Kevorkian.
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Big difference. Dr. Kevorkian got in trouble because he made a spectacle of himself - videotaping it publicly & he also seemed to enjoy killing & he enjoyed the attention.
Some of the people he killed needed psychotherapy; not a lethal injection. Some were just unhappy.
Before killing, he would tape interviews with his "patients." He asked them leading questions that hinted at encouraging them to want to die.
I saw an interview after he taped the killing of a woman who was unhappy about being overweight.
The interviewer asked Dr. Kevorkian, "Why didn't you suggest healthier eating & some exercise?"
Dr. Kevorkian replied, "Exercise? She weighed 211 pounds."
Quite telling.
 
win231 said:
Big difference. Dr. Kevorkian got in trouble because he made a spectacle of himself - videotaping it publicly & he also seemed to enjoy killing & he enjoyed the attention.
Some of the people he killed needed psychotherapy; not a lethal injection. Some were just unhappy.
Before killing, he would tape interviews with his "patients." He asked them leading questions that hinted at encouraging them to want to die.
I saw an interview after he taped the killing of a woman who was unhappy about being overweight.
The interviewer asked Dr. Kevorkian, "Why didn't you suggest healthier eating & some exercise?"
Dr. Kevorkian replied, "Exercise? She weighed 211 pounds."
Quite telling.
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Perhaps I will edit the last part out. But Dr. Kevorkian was the first person I heard of who spoke of assisted suicide - the first person to go against the idea of "life at all costs." Speaking of costs, it is highly profitable to keep the incapacitated alive for as long as possible. (I worked in nursing homes and have horror stories on victims patients.) I want the right to die.
 
My mother was in hospice and on oxygen for over a year due to her heart. During most of it, she was comfortable but no longer mobile. She had been using a walker prior, but that was no longer an option. She would sit in her recliner chair when I visited her and say to me "the physical therapist says he can help me walk again". I knew that wasn't going to happen, and it would break my heart.

A month prior to her passing, she was sitting in her recliner chair and had been extremely ill the night before. At that point, she became completely bedridden. She would often plead to get out of the bed and back into her chair. She became very fidgety and cried out to "go back home" or she said "please get me out of here". She was in tremendous pain and mental distress as her organs shut down and she stopped eating. It was terrible to see. She was lucid for the most part, and I would just go visit and tell her I loved her. She could sleep during the day but not at night. She was on Morphine, but anyone who says this is the answer is simply doesn't care.

So, long story short, I do believe assisted suicide should be available. I've seen someone die, and no one should have to go through this type of agony.
 
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win231 said:
Anyone who has good reason to commit suicide would much rather go to have it nicely & neatly done legally. But what are they to do without that option?
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Exactly. I want to go out in a fashion similar to the death scene in Soylent Green:
win231 said:
And why do we have that option for our beloved pets & not human?
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Isn't it amazing that most of us won't let our animals suffer, so we do the humane thing - but with our family members, we are forced to let them linger in prolonged agony until their final, painful deaths, even when they have expressed the desire to die ? Ridiculous.
 
There is a legal option to Exit in every state of the USA. It is called the Living Will and Advanced Directive. One should have those documents drawn up by an attorney. I have them. They allow anyone to refuse all medications including nutrition and hydration. One dies in 2 to 3 weeks after one goes down that road. It is called "VSED" meaning Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking. One should alert all relatives of one's choice and give close relatives a copy.

If one is forced to go to a Nursing Home, one should retain an Elder Law Attorney to make sure that he will use the courts if anyone tries to interfere including relatives. Of course, one must pay that attorney and the indigent do NOT have that option.

I keep a copy on a bureau right next to my bed just in case. I am 87.
 
Mitch86 said:
There is a legal option to Exit in every state of the USA. It is called the Living Will and Advanced Directive. One should have those documents drawn up by an attorney. I have them. They allow anyone to refuse all medications including nutrition and hydration. One dies in 2 to 3 weeks after one goes down that road. It is called "VSED" meaning Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking. One should alert all relatives of one's choice and give close relatives a copy.

If one is forced to go to a Nursing Home, one should retain an Elder Law Attorney to make sure that he will use the courts if anyone tries to interfere including relatives. Of course, one must pay that attorney and the indigent do NOT have that option.

I keep a copy on a bureau right next to my bed just in case. I am 87.
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Hi Mitch. Unfortunately, the conditions under which those documents take effect vary by state. I do have both and they are filed in my daughter's safe and my medical provider's office. The forms Ohio uses are no where near as comprehensive in nature as another state's documents I found, thanks to an EMT on this site, so I filled out those also, just to make sure that I have my bases covered. i.e. my wishes are clear.

I know that some patients were given nutrition and hydration under the guise of "pain relief." Wording is important.

Quality of life is far more important to me than duration. I know some folks try to cling to every possible breathe, but I want to have a quality life until the day I die.

Best of health to you. ~ Em
 

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