Meet Sir Edward Downes, knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II for an illustrious musical career conducting various orchestras. A few weeks ago he laid next to his wife, Joan Downes, in a Zurich clinic called Dignitas. With their two children watching they each drank a small clear liquid and were dead within minutes. She had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer and he had become increasingly deaf and blind. He was 85 and she was 74.I've seen this movie, it was called "Soylent Green," though I am 99% sure they did not turn the Downes's remains into food. Too soon? But seriously, what do you think about this? Since opening in 1998 Dignitas has assisted in the deaths of more than 100 foreigners, most of which were terminally ill though not all, some patients had depression or a physical disability. Switzerland is the only country in the world where this is allowed to be done to foreigners and it can all be done for the low, low price of 10,000 Swiss francs ($9,200).
Today at work we had a patient die. She was in her early fifties and since 1982 she had been diagnosed with cancer four times. However, when I spoke with her last week I guarantee she would have stuck around as long as possible, even if she was sick, just so she could treasure her time here on earth with her children, family, and friends. Off the top of my head I could name at least two dozen of our patients that would do anything to have the time that the Downes' forfeited, so yeah, this makes me a little ill.
Is it OK to quit on life, even if you are old and sick?
It is no secret the world is overcrowded so is this such a bad idea?
How about the fortune we spend on keeping people alive that by all accounts should have died years ago, if these particularly ill men and women are extinguished couldn't the resources allocated to them go elsewhere, giving younger, healthier people a second chance at life?
Or is my particular religious denomination correct in asserting to never give up, never give in; and isn't life about living it and not taking the easy way out by quitting? What would the world be like if we all just quit what we were doing because we could? I mean we can't all be Sarah Palin, right?
Maybe it is because I work with those that are dying but this article really caught my attention and has made me think. Is this right? Trust me, it is really hard to enter a room all alone and see a sick man or woman gasping for air, with their mouth half open, and their eyes rolled back in their head and think to oneself, "I could end this right now, but ending this suffering would be wrong, correct?" But then again, if we did this wouldn't we be taking away the noble victory they deserve for fighting to the bitter end?
What do I know anyway?
8 comments:
I just think people should have the choice. There are too many variables for everyone to have one blanket statement about how life and death should be handled. Anyone who has been near the last days of a painful death of a loved one knows that there is a place for such service.
I agree. people should be able to choose.
I have really mixed feelings on the subject. In my mind what I see as right and what I actually feel aren't necessarily the same. Personally, I don't want to get all old and "preserved." Not that I'd go seek out death per se- but then again I'm not in that place in life- nor have I experienced dying the way you do with your patients daily.
we can't all be sarah palin, but obviously she can...
did my one liner at the end even make sense? I thought it was so clever, but then I just reread it and it just sounds kinda confusing.
I'll try again:
We can't all be Sarah Palin, unless we want to, in which case we should be able to- but not as an aggregate, because then we would cause our own extinction.
...hmm...
less clever, and much more verbose
don't know that that's any better. I'm going to stop typing now.
I have never been in the position of feeling like death was an option for me. I have never been hopelessly sick. I have never known severe depression. I have never felt completely alone. And though I have embarrassed myself on countless occasions, I have never lost my dignity, therefore, I think it would be audacious of me to assume I had any right to judge another's choice in a situation I have never endured, because I don't have God's clarity to know their state of mind.
I have had close loved ones take their own lives, and what I can see is that to do something that dramatic, most people would have to be suffering something phenomenal, and for that, they have my sincere pity, but my deepest condolences go out to their families and friends who will nearly all ask themselves relentless "what if" questions in order to concoct ways he/she could have prevented the loss.
Long comment, I know. Bizarre as it is, death is something I think about a lot, so all of this was at the tip of my tongue. Sorry.
Think about Mom. That last month was completely unnecessary. But before that, I know she wanted to squeeze out every bit of time she had left.
I concur with the others--it should be a choice, but I only think it should be done toward the end, before the unbearable suffering sets in.
Definately agree. You should have the choice. And I think a facility like that is a lot better than finding your loved one after they had taken care of it him or herself.
On a lighter note, have you seen this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKTsWjbjQ8E
True. We cannot make judgments on the man or women that decides to end their own life. I'll never do that. And there is no questioning we all have a choice. We've always had the choice, the option, if we wanted it. But can we make a judgment on the wisdom of that choice?
Can I presume to know that I or those who love me can't gain or learn anything from me or from the experience of my death before my life would naturally end? Since life is a gift, it makes sense to treasure that gift to the end--and all that comes with it. Pain and anguish has been one of my best teachers.
My best example is this. I learned a lot about my grandpa's character as he slowly died of bone cancer. He never lashed out while suffering. He was kind and grateful and stoic to the end. His final moment before his breath gave out taught me about the deep, committed love he had for my grandmother. He kept breathing, as painful as it was, until she was finally willing to let him go.
Again, we cannot presume to know when death or painful life will cease to teach us. Thus, I will always believe that "enduring to the end" is the wisest choice.
I don't believe in euthanasia. I say this after watching mom suffer with cancer and just praying that her pain would end. I also say this not ever having to suffer a horrible sickness or pain. I would like to say it should be a choice, but where would you draw the line? Someone that is handicapped, or depressed? Or would it only be for the terminally ill or should we include the chronically ill?
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