more articles like this

Worse Than Death?
updated: Oct 11, 2011, 6:06 AM

By Faye Girsh

Dying can be prolonged by medical miracles at the cost of dignity, comfort, and autonomy. Cancer, Alzheimer's, stroke or any number of chronic illnesses are some of the burdens of increasing longevity. When there is no hope, some would rather end it on their own terms. Some do it by shooting or hanging or taking a lot of the wrong pills and waking up sicker than before. In Oregon and Washington a terminally ill person can chose to die with the help of a physician under the Death with Dignity law. Hospice helps with a peaceful death but does not guarantee it.

A Living Will or advance directive also helps when the time comes. This is a good solution if you are receiving life-sustaining treatment -- but half of us will not. The book, Final Exit by Derek Humphry, and will work if you are able to carry out the procedures described.

Most Americans don't want to think about dying. It is unpleasant, morbid. It will not accomplish anything and might even bring death closer. Anyway, your loved ones know what you want, or you know what you will do, or you have a doctor you trust.

More of us, though, are forced to consider end of life issues. We may not want to go beyond the point where we still enjoy our lives, lose our independence, control, and, ultimately, our personhood.

All Americans can document their end-of-life wishes in a Living Will and appoint someone they trust to make health care decisions for them. Oregon has pioneered other end of life innovations. The POLST form, now law in California, enables people who are close to the end to complete a document that their doctor signs and that follows them and is a doctor's order, about what treatment they do not want. In 1994, Oregon pioneered with the first Death with Dignity law (which went into effect in 1998) enabling a terminally ill person to ask a physician for a prescription for a drug which they can administer themselves to end their lives peacefully. This law has worked, for the few people each year who choose to use it, without a problem for the last 13 years. It is now an option in the state of Washington. For others there is the Final Exit Network which provides information and support about end of life choices provided in the home by trained volunteers.

At a free, public meeting at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History on October 19 from 7-9 PM experts from various disciplines will be discussing end of life choices. I will be strongly advocating that there is a right for people to be able to decide how their lives will end, consistent with their own values - and with assistance. I will discuss various choices for a peaceful death in the U.S. and internationally.

Faye Girsh, Ed.D. is Vice-President of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 221631P	2011-10-11 06:26 AM
Thanks for posting this. It is extremely important and interesting to many of us. RR (Regular Reader), 76
COMMENT 221645	2011-10-11 07:24 AM
Interesting choice of words in the title. Since dying iis usually asscociated with pain and suffering, most of us aren't real interested in PROLONGING dying. Prolonging living.......well......sure especially if it involves island vacations, mai tai's and beautiful women!
COMMENT 221675	2011-10-11 08:45 AM
Amen. If my father had realized the indignities he suffered during his his 7 years with Alzheimers, he would have been mortified. He was an elegant, dignified man who ended up wearing diapers, picking his nose, removing his clothing in public, rambling incoherently, and worse. I've no doubt that he would have far rather died than lived for so many years in such humility.
COMMENT 221680P	2011-10-11 08:56 AM
This should be a basic human right. But yet again, the ONLY obstacles to logic and reason are those that live their lives with neither, religious nut jobs. Thanks for making our lives miserable.
COMMENT 221687	2011-10-11 09:17 AM
This is something important to me and I have always wanted to find how to get involved. I took care of both my grandmothers one who finally starved herself to death (after the last straw, a leg amputation) at age 94. My other grandmother (90s) has been in diapers and in a facility bed for 6yrs now and has no joy. Yet when my beloved dog started getting ill and incontinent at age 13 everyone knew it was mercy and the right thing to do to end his suffering. Why can I end my dogs suffering yet not grandma's??? I know I never what to get that bad, I will be more than happy to move myself on to my next adventure when that time comes...
COMMENT 221689	2011-10-11 09:22 AM
I have often wondered why we are allowed to put our animals down when they are suffering but have to watch our friends and families suffer long painful deaths. My loving father had cancer and was told he would live about 6 months. He was only 51, physically fit with a strong heart. I watched him slowly die for 19 months and by the time he died, this 6 foot man weighed 110 pounds. When he finally took his last breath I smiled because his pain was over. That was 30 years ago and I still feel such sadness in his suffering. Everyone needs to be educated!!!! Thank you for doing this.
COMMENT 221698	2011-10-11 09:40 AM
680P: This has very little to do with religion and far more to do with our cultural need to fix what is broken, to hang in there, to put up a fight, to "win," to be a "survivor." We have a basic need to do all we can to "save" our loved ones, even at their expense. Americans view death differently than many other cultures. We see death as sad for the deceased. It is not. It is only sad for the survivors. Most "heroic" attempts to prolong life come from place of love and despair and fear of losing someone we love so dearly. And yes, sometimes from selfishness. We are raised to "keep fighting!! Never give up!!" Rah Rah Rah. Allowing a loved one to die naturally is never a failure. In addition, the will to live is very strong. Many sick people do not want to die. Many do, but many do not. They will try anything to survive.
COMMENT 221702P	2011-10-11 09:47 AM
The reason that assisted suicide is not a law everywhere in this country has EVERYTHING to do with religion, 675.
COMMENT 221719	2011-10-11 10:19 AM
Wow. 675 back away from the computer and check yourself before you actually believe your Beowolf inspired Hero speech. You speaking for anyone other than yourself is dangerous at best and elevates your omniscience to demogogue status that you have not earned. Please cease and desist using the collective pronounds of "US and We" Confine yourself to Me, I and My. The couple of anecdotal stories of pain and suffering that are posted before your post aught to inspire a thoughtfull discussion of how to embrace the topic of the "sanctity of death" and not the justification of why religion and modern medicine continues to put old people in states of mental and physical preservation that are beyond what nature intended. 687 and 675 I salute you.
COMMENT 221731P	2011-10-11 10:52 AM
If the prolonging of death has nothing to do with religion, then why is it that only the religious want the choices for my life and death to be theirs and not mine?
COMMENT 221744	2011-10-11 11:19 AM
If I am in a bed and the only thing keeping me alive is machines, please pull the plug. I would also like a Viking style funeral in the Santa Barbara channel.
COMMENT 221759	2011-10-11 12:49 PM
Thank you for your informative post. I have always believed in keeping my life private and in respecting the privacy of others. Many of us will be blessed to live long happy healthy lives but there are many who will not. Everyone deserves the right to make their choice. I will always respect and defend that right. I've had a living will since I was 25 and I keep my own counsel.
MTNDRIVER	2011-10-11 01:36 PM
Amen, thank you for this, much needed information. So often we don't begin to think about these decisions until our minds are not so clear and able to make them. That is a cause of tremendous unneeded suffering.
COMMENT 221772	2011-10-11 02:06 PM
Speaking of dying..Ive started chemo & rad...& I`ve found my tastebuds are horrible. Any experience as to what I can eat that has any taste & is nutritional?
COMMENT 221787	2011-10-11 04:20 PM
I can only speak for myself, when I say it should be about the quality of life, not the quantity. Sometimes, it seems the health profession depends on senior citizens becoming sick so they can schedule additional doctor visits, and continue to raise prices for prescriptions. It would be very beneficial if the same law that assists individuals in ending their lives with dignity could exist in all states.
COMMENT 221805	2011-10-11 05:52 PM
Too bad you have to go to Oregon or Washington to do this legally. Hopefully California will follow suit soon.
COMMENT 221807	2011-10-11 06:11 PM
A friend of mine with terminal cancer was able to do this in Oregon and it was such a relief to her throughout her illness that she had a prescription on hand for when it was her time to go. She went peacefully and beautifully. This really should be a right all Americans have.
COMMENT 221812	2011-10-11 06:49 PM
I think we all will agree that the quality of life is the most crucial part of this situation. Myself: I would prefer to live just as long as that good quality existed. Sadly, however, we do not have the opportunity to make this choice.
COMMENT 221815P	2011-10-11 06:57 PM
One in three Medicare patients undergoes inpatient surgery in their last year of life, often during the final month. Of the 1.8 million Medicare patients who died in 2008, about one-third underwent a surgical procedure the year before their death, according to a new study published online in The Lancet. More than 18% underwent a procedure in the last month of life.
COMMENT 221896	2011-10-12 07:53 AM
Ever notice how many obituaries say something like, "... died after a long battle with [disease]"? It saddens me whenever I read this, because who wants to live the last months of one's life in a battle? I'd prefer to spend them in a peaceful decline, living at home with comfort care. As a hospice volunteer I know it's usually the family that battled, not the patient. Let's help people with terminal conditions make the best of each day that's left to them, not view it as a 'battle' against the disease.
COMMENT 221908	2011-10-12 08:19 AM
There are so many of us who would like CA to have what they have in Oregon and Washington. There have been attempts to get this passed in CA and it has always been fought by the Catholic Church. Catholic individuals want this right just as they want birth control. They should join with us in stating that we want to live long healthy lives, but with the knowledge that if we lose that quality of life and are in pain and have no hope of recovery, we can request medical help to hasten our deaths. Few want to die if life is good. We just want the peace of mind to know that if we need help to get out, it will be there. Put your wishes in writing and tell your relatives what you want while you are in good health. Before you vote for state officials, ask if they support death with dignity legislation. A majority of us in CA want this right. We will not give up. Marian Shapiro
COMMENT 221914	2011-10-12 08:41 AM
I have long said that death is not the enemy. Death is a blessing to many who have suffered needlessly due to a philosophy that lives should be prolonged no matter what. In the old days, elderly people often died of pneumonia. The discovery of penicillin has caused people to live long beyond the age they should have lived.
COMMENT 221918P	2011-10-12 08:47 AM
my mother's "battle" lasted over 5 years. it was terrible to watch her in so much pain but she was only 62 when she passed and she was relatively optimistic throughout the whole ordeal (more so than many of our healthy and able relatives). in her case i don't think she ever wanted to give up, and even after a month without being able to eat she held on until i had finished my fall semester at college and came home for the holidays. i knew she wanted to see me one last time and she battled all the odds and was able to regain consciousness when i got home so we could spend a few precious moments together before her passing. ultimately it was her choice to try and survive and i don't see why it should be any different if someone would want to pass in comfort and dignity. i hate that a group or individual can try and justify that they know what's best for someone else. we should all have the freedom to live and die as we please.
RED CREEK	2011-10-12 09:20 AM
Good for Ms. Girsh for bringing this to people's awareness. You needn't be "old" to consider your demise. I've watched several loved ones die. My father in law, on golf course, heart attack, 51. Hard on his family, but not so bad for him. Mother in law, 6 months in hospital, experimental chemo, extreme pain. Awful. Age 64 Father, over dose suicide . Resuscitated but with do not resuscitate order in place. Pulled out all tubes and told hospital staff to read DNR. Died peacefully 1 week later of dehydration at age 80. Another mother in law, sudden stroke, age 84. Again hard on family, but she died with a champagne glass in hand, not so bad for her. Dear friend, after 7 year cancer battle. Hospice for 10 days. Blissfully unaware. Age 54. How would you like to go? After seeing my first mother in law in such dreadful ghoulish pain and suffering, my husband and I signed the papers for no resuscitation or medical intervention. However, a hospital can be unaware. Would be awful to watch a loved one with slow degenerative decline; don't think our society has really an answer for that. So if possible, do the paperwork and "work" on a blissful, pain free death. If you are lucky you will have one, hopefully a long time from now!.
COMMENT 221940	2011-10-12 09:25 AM
Finally everyone is keeping on topic and agrees on this important subject. How could anyone believe differently after watching a loved one slowly die with a terminal disease.
COMMENT 221950	2011-10-12 09:48 AM
Hey #772: I did chemo (oral) and radiation and I don't remember the tastebud issue so much as overall lack of appetite--for which marijuana was greatly helpful. In addition, I went to our local Chinese herbalist, Dr. Weidong Henry Han, a 5th generation herbalist from Beijing. He prescribed and blended -from his own pharmacy- a tea concoction that was amazing for nausea and a host of other issues. I highly recommend you visit him. Check the SB Herb Clinic at 3886 State St., ph)563-0222. Hang in there, 772.
COMMENT 221977	2011-10-12 10:39 AM
For 772: been there and Mom is there now. Moist foods that are on the bland side seem to go down easiest. I bought individual cups of rice pudding by the case. (The fact that they were individually packaged helped be sure they were relatively sterile since chemo also made my immune system very weak.) "French dip" sandwiches go down without scratching the throat. Applesauce, ice cream, noodles, soups. TJ's has a good frozen man n cheese. The red beans and rice at Tupelo Junction. Omelettes? Pancakes or crepes? Whatever tastes good to you. Never mind the old "healthy balanced diet" rules...what you need now is just calories, so eat whatever you like, and hang in there. It gets better.
COMMENT 222031	2011-10-12 12:21 PM
#772 I spent the better part of 2010 with radiation and two rounds of chemo. The tase issues seems to affect everybody. The only thing that tasted good to me at first was mashed potatoes and gravy. Drank a lot of ensure and had many milk shakes during the first round. The second round Ihad oxaliplatin in my chemo coctail so nothing cold. Hand in there. It is not easy but it is doable.
COMMENT 222055P	2011-10-12 01:18 PM
We need doctors and hospitals -- and our society, in general -- to stop equating Death with Failure. Death is the natural by-product of Life, part of the natural cycle of life. Physician-assisted suicide is a wonderful alternative to anguished suffering, and I'm hoping it becomes legal in this state by the time I need it. The insidious problem with Alzheimer's and other dementias is that a person can say they will take their own life when there is no quality, but when it gets to that point, they are often no longer able to recognize anything or anyone, and have thus lost the wherewithal. I do not want to live without dignity, losing my independence and privacy. I do not want my only purpose for existence to be to give someone a job to wipe my butt! Perhaps the only answer is to actually commit suicide while still alive and able. Just give me an easy, painless, guaranteed method that doesn't involve putting a plastic bag over my head. Death is the end; the dead person doesn't regret not being alive anymore; has no cognition of what they're missing. Suffering through day after day of pain and indignity is definitely a fate worse than death. I look forward to attending the symposium.
COMMENT 222122	2011-10-12 06:04 PM
I am so happy to see so many positive comments. I lost my husband to pancreatic cancer and his suffering was terrible. He started out wanting to do anything to live, but he was allergic to the chemo and it worsened his pain. After months of unbearable pain he just wanted to end his suffering. When I could not care for him alone he went into the hospital, and refused oxygen, food, and water. It took him 10 awful days to die. Everyone should have a choice to die peacefully and in little or no pain. I love him and miss him very much, but my last memories of him are a nightmare. Thank you for bringing this to the area.
COMMENT 222158P	2011-10-12 09:14 PM
I've been a proponent of suicide since I was taken to one of the convalescent hospitals to visit my grandfather when I was 12. It was gut wrenching seeing men and women rotting away, some wishing to die. When my canine companion was suddenly struck ill, I was able to get her healthy enough to have a last good bye and put her down in a peaceful place that made us happy. My best friend who is a little older commented, "gee I hope you can do that for me when my time comes". Sadly, it probably won't be legal yet. I'm happy to see there haven't been any trolls on this thread.
COMMENT 222751P	2011-10-14 03:54 PM
I realize this may be seen as a very insensitive question , but I figure who better to ask than those who think about this issue. Does anybody know how life insurers handle claims if the death is considered suicide? I have a family member who is in unbelievable anguish several years into a very horrible cancer fight. He speaks often of ending his life, but is afraid his life insurance policy will be invalidated if he "ends it." He's got a wife and kids and wants them to be provided for....
COMMENT 222752	2011-10-14 03:59 PM
@751P It's my understanding that suicide invalidates pretty much all life insurance policies.

33% of comments on this page were made by Edhat Community Members.

*** One comment was removed from this thread by the Edhat Board Nanny for violating Edhat Comments Board policy. Click Here to see it.