Euthanasia.

[entwisi]

I to am in favour of living wills that would include a decision to be 'put to sleep' if I was unable to communicate or live a life where I wasn't aware of my surroundings. It would drive me crazy to have a working mind and no way of expressing my thoughts. I guess the above only really covers sudden events such as an accident or medical emergency. It must be harder for those already diagnosed with some condition to make an balanced judgement but I feel they should be allowed to do so.

I also think that in the latter stages of life (by which I mean that last day when we all know the end is coming) we should be able to make an informed choice to end someones suffering. When my dad died it was quick and relatively painless. His heart stopped twice and was got going again but we were told it wouldn't last long. It was long enough to say our goodbyes and I will always be grateful to the medical staff for those 20 minutes. I (and I believe he too)would have hated sitting there waiting for hours for him to pass on, never knowing if that was his last breath.

Ian

[accymel]

Originally Posted by simon

When my Father was dying of very advanced cancer a few years ago, I personally at NO stage felt like letting go of my dad, but that was selfish thinking on my part, I feel that my dad would have taken the option of euthanasia if it was available about 2wks before his "Natural ???" death, During that last time period he was in real pain, he had a pump attached to him to administer morthine(?) and also patches of morthine(?) to apply to the skin. He got to the stage that he did not want any of us to go into the room with him, because he could see the pain it caused us to see him like that. And lets face it at that stage we all, including my dad, where waiting for his death.

So I think that under such circumstances it would be kind to all concerned to say goodbye with dignity.

My grandad was like that & lying in hospice knowing he was going anyway but had to await the cancer to seal it first bless him he given up smoking & drink when he was diagnosed but while in his last day or so he sodded it & had some beers & his favourite pipe with his family around him & passed away shortly after, i think he felt better for doing it.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I think when a diagnosis of terminal illness is made, the patient and the relatives should be consulted as to what stage of the illness intervention should be continued.

I too, watched my father die of Lung cancer.....he never asked about his illness.....he was not told he was dying, but he knew he was. It was very hard for him to handle, and he withdrew from life and all that should make life worth living. He suffered physically, only in the last 48 hours......but from diagnosis to death he mentally was crucified. There is NO treatment for this sort of mental pain......physical pain can be helped by Morphine...... but mental pain is torture......for both the patient and the relatives. To have talked to him about death would have hurt him even more. I am 13 years on from this event and still I find it difficult to deal with. Doctors and Nurses do their best in these circumstances, but there is no easy answer. I don't think my father would have opted to die......I think he feared death. And I could not have made that decision to end his life.....but having said that I was glad when he did die. Even though I know that this was the only outcome, and he was relieved of the effort of breathing......I feel guilty about it.
I have also watched other people die like that, and it is heartbreaking to watch.

[JohnW]

I believe in Euthanasia in principal, but also agree with some of the comments on here, that the legislation may be difficult to ensure people are not getting bumped off for their money. Probably the best way would be, for only a doctor to have the right to offer Euthanasia to the person concerned, or to the relatives, if the person was too far gone to know what was happening. At least this way, it would ensure someone with no axe to grind was making the original decision to offer the facility.

[SPUGGIE J]

There are so many pros and cons to this that it is a decission that would be hard for anyone to take. Personally it would be a case of weighing up what is the chance of they person being stable enough to make the dicission themselves for I could not do it without the regret. Some people could and some couldnt but sometimes the patient knows there is no hope and gives up leading to a slow demise. This is not for the faint of heart and legislation could never cover it all, and yet people would rather go with dignity than watch their friends and family suffer because they are suffering. I think if the patient is of sound mind the dicission is theirs and theirs and theirs alone. If the are not then it comes down to the profesional opinion of the medical staff.

[Tinkerbelle]

Euthanasia is such a hard subject to tackle and find answers too. In an idel world there would be no pain and suffering and death would come to us all peacefully as we sleep but it's not an ideal world is it.

People of sound mind being able to make their own informed choice of when to die I totally, unreservedly agree with. I have always said if I was diagnosed with a debilatating illnes or the dreaded cancer, when it got too much i would honestly do the job of ending my own life whilst I was still able. Yes I fear death but not as much as I fear the suffering many people have to endure.

The problems arise when other people have to make the choice of when somebodies 'time was up'? Families find it hard to make the devastating decision to turn a persons life support machines off when the person is already pronounced clinically dead. Could you imagine having to bring about the death of a family member? If it was a family decision what would happen if one family member didn't agree?

[Gayle]

I've told my husband that if I ever got to a stage where I was being kept alive by machines or had a disease like alzheimers to 'pull the plug'. I don't want to be spoon fed or have my children having to take me to the potty etc.

Thing is though, that if it was the other way round I'm not sure I could do it.

[Acrylic-bob]

A great many of us have expressed our opinions on this subject in several threads over the past year or so. But it is a subject that concerns us all intimately because, sooner or later, we will all have to face the prospect of dying, whether we like it or not.

Shuttling back and forth between Fleetwood and Blackpool, via Cleveleys, I get the chance to pass quite a number of retirement homes. Some of the sights I have seen leave me wondering what is the point of prolonging a life to the last possible syllable. For me, life only has value if you do something with it. Spending one's days sat in the same chair in a puddle of one's own effluent and too frail to move is not living. The Welfare State may have been instrumental in improving lifespan in the UK, but it has proved to be singularly useless in helping us to figure out what we should do with all the extra years we have been sentenced to.

Surely a society as sophisticated as ours can come up with a means whereby a dignified end can be arranged for those who feel that life has become a burden too heavy to be bourne?
Speaking personally, I would hate to end up in a retirement home. Were the prospect ever to arise I think I would develop a sudden case of insomnia and save up the sleeping tablets before I would agree to go into one.

[chav1]

i see suicide and euthanasia as two seperate things where as suicide i see as ending a perfectly healthy life where their is hope and euthanasia as to end a life where there is no hope

i would never promote suicide but as for euthanasia i think you should be allowed to end your own life if you choose to regardless of what anyone else thinks its your life and if you dont want to suffer then you shouldnt have to regardless of what religeion says about suicide and going to hell it should be up to the individual

rather than rot in a hospital bed with terminal cancer for example i would live my life as best i could until i could bare it no more and hope i had the strenghth left to do myself in when the time came , you may not agree with it but its my life and that is all that should matter

most of the people who harp on about how bad euthanasia is either dont have terminaly ill friends or family or have never been in a situation where their life was in tha balance , believe me when you get diagnosed with a serious disease you will consider things like what if its terminal how painfull will my death be etc no matter who you are and if after all the treatments the NHS has to offer fail then you should be able to end your missery before you die an agonising and in some cases an undignified death

i have seen a family member die with terminal cancer and i have seen people on the hospital wards with terminal cancer and my choice in their position would to be dead before things got that bad

i also think that those who choose to suffer should be able to do so but for those who want to skip the messy ending there should be laws to allow them to do so

sorry to anyone here who may have family or friends with cancer for using cancer as an example but cancer is a big part of my familys lives and my own personal life , i was lucky enough to not be terminaly ill but if i had been i would have liked to have had an option to bail out before the end

ok thats my 2 cents

[SPUGGIE J]

I have seen what prolonging life does to some especially if it is and old person. They want to die with dignity but the doctors have to drag it out. I would rather have a dignified exit than one i hated and made others suffer because of what was happening.

[grego]

I too think its a choice you should be able to make, if in sound mind, I also would not like to be kept alive if I was in a vegetive state. I can understand to a degree why its illegal, but if guidlines were in place so the decision couldn't be abused, then I would be happy for it to become legal.

[SPUGGIE J]

Could we trust the govenment at the time to come up with a solid workable solution because if its like its been with them so far i doubt it too much backtracking.

[grego]

Probably not Spuggie, they couldn't organise a party in a brewery!

[garinda]

Like I earlier Parkinson's Disease isn't going to kill me, however I've met people who were diagnosed at the same age as me, who ten years down the line, can't walk, can't talk and shake excessively. If I get that bad before a cure is found, I would like to say I would prefer to be dead, although I would never suggest that other people should follow the same course of action.

I want a legal option. It's all very well for people to say this, like Gayle discussing it with her husband, but as the law stands, if your loved one is unable to take their own life, even after giving clear instruction when they were well, what to do in this situation, the person assisting their loved one to end their life is acting illegally. People are prosecuted and even imprisoned every year for doing what their loved one asked them to do, because they were to ill to carry out their own wishes.

The law needs changing.

[accymel]

This thread bring me back to the dot & ethel story on eastenders - i know a soap opera but they tried to convey awarness that this happens more than you think or at least the fight for it is there.