Quote:
Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby
For me, the question isn't even a matter of "end of life" decisions. It's "quality of life" decisions. Pain - is not something I look forward to. I don't mean just my bursitis and my life-long battle with spinal pain. I mean serious, non-stop, non-treatable neurological pain. Imagine what your life would be like, if you felt like the skin on your arms, legs, and hips was literally burning on fire, 24/7, and no amount of painkillers would make that feeling go away - and it wasn't damaging your body at all - it was just slowly driving you insane, and month after month, the doctors insisted that it *might* go away.
Would you be willing to endure that sensation, 24/7, for the next 20 years? I know I wouldn't. Could you imagine how your throat must feel after screaming non-stop for days? Can you imagine how futile and hopeless your life would be, the abject misery of merely existing, and then being informed that you are not ALLOWED to end it?
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Absolutely. I completely agree. I have had long discussions about this with my family, wife, and PCP.
If something happens to me, accident, heart attack, etc., and I end up in a hospital, I do not want extraordinary measures taken unless the attending doctor has reason to believe my treatment will return me to a good or better quality of life as before the incident.
Of course, that is an extremely complicated decision, since everyone has their own opinion of what is an acceptable quality of life. For some being in a wheelchair is acceptable, for some being bedridden would be acceptable, for some a feeding tube down their throat or IV feeding would be acceptable.
My point is each of us should have the right to make OUR decision and no one should have the right to override it.
No system is perfect, but one that helps is having to have multiple non-associated doctors determine what YOUR wishes are and how they apply in the current situation.