Originally Posted by REH7380

I can remember when my wife was dying and I called a home care service (I will not give the name in order to avoid a long list of people yelling at me.) to help me. She was a Registered Nurse, had been head nurse in a number of area of the hospital (e.g. Cardiac Care, ER, Pedeatrics, etc.etc.) and in fact her picture is on display in the hospital where she practiced.
Back to the story..She was diagnosed with Stomach cancer, Stage IV and told it was most likely terminal. We spent 8-9 months going through various treatments, surgerys (e.g. Chemo, etc.). When it was determined she only had a few weeks to live and I had to turn her every couple of hours, etc. she told me I had to call for help. I did. I called these home care people. They came in a very business like way and went through what they would and would not do. One thing they said was that they would not give her fluids as that would just "prolong life". She started to cry and tell them she would die from dyhydration and the other problems by denying her fluids. They stood steadfast. I ended up throwing them out and securing another home care who did provide fluids and she died a peacful death. There is no way in this world I would want the gov't to start following the practices of this terrible home care practice but I am afraid that is just what they would do. THE DIFFERENCE WAS DYING A PEACEFUL DEATH VS DYING BECAUSE OF BEING DENIED ONE OF THE MAJOR REQUIREMENTS OF LIFE..WATER. IT IS QUICKER. Please don't preach to me the benifits of some bizzare expediting of death. You have to be there, understand it from a medical and human standpoint.
We do not need a bureaucrat telling us the treatment we can have at the time of a terminal illness. What the heck kind of nation have we become to start choosing who will and will not die and how long they will get and what kind of treatment.