Interesting enough there are statistics out there that showed when it became legal first in California and Oregon of those that received and requested the medication’s to accomplish MA ID, less than 30%, actually went on to take advantage of that. And as you see in the article, it seems that understanding that there might be a way out of suffering, provides some sort of reassurance that they will not be caught in endless horrible suffering, even if they choose not to use MA ID.
I'm an endocrinologist and not an oncologist b/c of the suffering I witnessed in some people with end stage cancer. Not all suffering is the same. Some might be proactively perceived. When a family member was in end stage dementia - not recognizing family, not speaking - I told my daughter that if this ever happened to me she should "just shoot me" as it would not be an existence of any value.
Just piling on - without offering a judgment either way - to the suffering your suicide might cause to family members. Like you, extrapolating from my personal experience of my sister's final weeks, when I sat beside her pressing the morphine button ineffectually. She was in pain, semiconscious, and had no choice in the matter, but if she had, she might have preferred advancing the inevitable and saving both of us two weeks of pointless suffering.
My friend just took MAID. She seemed matter of fact about it. I think she took it to get out of the hell hole nursing home where the system stuck her. She was widowed, neglected and was surrounded by uncaring staff who only cleaned her shower once in a year. And basic cable. She left because her life sucked not because she was in agonizing pain.
Rose, I have hard about similar hell hole nursing homes. I don't think we know how many people make choices similar to your friend's. I wish I had a solution.
https://compassionandchoices.org/resource/medical-aid-in-dying-utilization-report/
Interesting enough there are statistics out there that showed when it became legal first in California and Oregon of those that received and requested the medication’s to accomplish MA ID, less than 30%, actually went on to take advantage of that. And as you see in the article, it seems that understanding that there might be a way out of suffering, provides some sort of reassurance that they will not be caught in endless horrible suffering, even if they choose not to use MA ID.
I'm an endocrinologist and not an oncologist b/c of the suffering I witnessed in some people with end stage cancer. Not all suffering is the same. Some might be proactively perceived. When a family member was in end stage dementia - not recognizing family, not speaking - I told my daughter that if this ever happened to me she should "just shoot me" as it would not be an existence of any value.
Just piling on - without offering a judgment either way - to the suffering your suicide might cause to family members. Like you, extrapolating from my personal experience of my sister's final weeks, when I sat beside her pressing the morphine button ineffectually. She was in pain, semiconscious, and had no choice in the matter, but if she had, she might have preferred advancing the inevitable and saving both of us two weeks of pointless suffering.
https://open.substack.com/pub/rosesimpson/p/hey-brenda?r=7gsuv&utm_medium=ios
My friend just took MAID. She seemed matter of fact about it. I think she took it to get out of the hell hole nursing home where the system stuck her. She was widowed, neglected and was surrounded by uncaring staff who only cleaned her shower once in a year. And basic cable. She left because her life sucked not because she was in agonizing pain.
Rose, I have hard about similar hell hole nursing homes. I don't think we know how many people make choices similar to your friend's. I wish I had a solution.