End of Life Options
 

First and foremost, I AM NOT SUICIDAL!!!

Now, that established, I’m in my 70’s and I do not know of any local facilities or Doctors that will assist me in a painless death should I become terminally ill. After this wonderful life I have lived already, I desperately want to have a way out of my choosing, without having hospitals, etc. sucking my bank account dry while I suffer. When it’s over, call me a coward if that makes you feel better, but I want out quick without pain and loss of my life’s savings. I want my loving wife and children to have my estate.
Question, any information would be greatly appreciated.

It's called assisted suicide, Dr. Jack Kevorkian spent 8 years in prison for doing just that. It's not legal in Florida, you'll have to move to California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Montana, Maine (starting January 1, 2020), New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

That is line with what I can find on google. WHY, Florida is filled with old folks like me. If any state should have agencies that assist in matters of this kind, it should be Florida. Why should we have to suffer and turn over our estate to blood sucking hospice organizations. Keep in mind, I totally respect hospice for those that want it, but I do not. Is there no godly organizations that will give this final decision to me? I feel I have earned the right to die with dignity!

Are "Do Not Treat" orders legal in any State (not to be confused with "Do Not Resuscitate")?

Good point, and I have a do not resuscitate in place that Florida does honor, but if I continue to live on, tough, you must suffer till your heart stops on its own. It is such a horrible thought. This archaic practice must end.

Talk to a lawyer about setting up trusts to protect your estate. An elder care lawyer would be good first choice. Keeps the wolves away.

I have looked into that, but if you are in a hospital and your doctor says you can live on, he/she has authority over your will or end of life wishes.

Hospice Care
 

My husband was here at home with hospice care for the last 6 months of his life. I cannot say enough good about Compassionate Care Hospice! They truly live up to their name. Once you are admitted to hospice, the hospice part of Medicare takes over. They paid for everything he medically needed.....his bed, meds, oxygen, supplies, etc. Wonderful, caring nurses, volunteers, support. We were paying out the nose, even with insurance prior to hospice. He also qualified for help from the VA, even though he was not RETIRED military nor had a service connected disability. He was a Korean War era veteran. That, too, was a God send. Our estate is very much intact.

With hospice and the VA, we were able to be at home (he was confined to a hospital bed) with each other to the very end. Our major problem was keeping up with the TV remote! (It is a guy thing, you know.:1rotfl:) Please don't count them out.

Not about ending your life. But protecting your estate.

Absolutely! See my previous post.

What a good post Dilly and thank you for passing along this information. My very good neighbor and friend kept her husband at home to the end with the help of hospice, she was able to have the children with her when he passed. Unfortunately death is a taboo subject in our society and it really is difficult to get information.

I worked with Dr. K for many years. He was a kind, quiet man, who wanted to give those at end of life, a choice. Even in hospice one can control how quickly, or long you choose to stay in pain.
Sadly you may have legal papers for your departure, but have seen family withhold that information, because they did not agree.

It's called Death with Dignity Laws

Death with Dignity Acts - States That Allow Assisted Death

In 2008 thru 2010 my mother lived with us in Maryland and we had woman doctor who came every month making house calls paid by Medicare and Blue Cross. Her alzheimers became a real problem and by 2010 she had fallen and broke her hip and after returning home from a few weeks in a rehab facility, she was a zombie, she never regained consciousness and I don't know what they did to her.

The house doctor came and ordered hospice in the home. They brought a hospital bed to her bedroom and we broke down the regular bed and set it aside. After a couple of days the doctor came by and told me she gave her some morphine. 9:00 that night she was dead.

Six years earlier my dad had lung cancer in 2003 and they gave him about a year to live. 22 months later he was still doing fairly well but he decided to go to the hospital, he didn't feel good that day. The doctor told him he had 2 to 4 months to live and after a couple of days they put him in a hospice. I was visiting on a Wednesday, he was sitting up, talking, doing good, and when I came back on Saturday he was knocked out. They said they gave him morphine. That night he died.

Lesson to learn. Once you go to a hospice it won't be long, especially when they give you the morphine.