2 yrs good health left + 1 yr severe pain. How would it change you? (page 2)

MsMcDucket

My neice has been given six months or so to live. She says that she doesn't believe what the doctor says; and she always says "I'm blessed" when someone asked her how's she's doing. She's only 22 years old. She's in a wheel chair now and on oxygen; she's getting hospice care.

She love's sweets! Especially cakes! She's really frail; probably weighs 80 lbs. If that? I told you about her going to KC to see if she would qualify for a trial. Well, she ended up turning it down. The doctor told her that 1 out of 5 people survive the treatment.

She's, actually, my great neice.

Open mind

MsMcDucket:

Very sorry to hear about your niece.

Is she in pain?

OM

Finally-Free

There are times when I think I'd end it myself. The idea of making my exit on my terms appeals to me. However, there are times when I just don't know when to throw in the towel, so I'd probably grind it out to the bitter end.

W

Snoozy

Well..we went through that. Hubby's JW father also was told he had two years.(Prostrate spead to bones.).but he didn't change anything in his life except his wife looked up all health food options she could.He tried everything you can imagine.Just made him miserable.

He died in a nursing home yelling at the top of his lungs..Oo weee..you could hear him when you walked in.We thought he was calling his sisters name that raised him.Her name was Ollie.

My husband and I had to hear that he only had 6 months top to live. You cannot imagine the heavy feeling in your chest when you hear those words. All they could offer was pallitive treatments. He had lung cancer (Non-smoker) that spread to his liver and it was the most aggresive kind.

What did we do? He wanted to spent most of his time going to help his mom on her farm. Then we would come home and he worked like crazy to do stuff he felt needed doing around the house that I wouldn't be able to do. He even taught me how to check the oil and tires and water in my car.He was mostly worried about getting everything done. We also went on little trips. Took lunches and just sat and held each other. When he started getting weak I made him give me one more slow dance. We couldn't hug enough.

The last time he told me he loved me is when I finally got the hospice nurse to give him morphine. He turned to me and said "Thank you...and I love you".

He was always worried about his Mom and me.

Eventually he went into his own little world. He would cover his head with a sheet and sleep that way. They for some reason get very hot when they have cancer. He couldn't stand to be covered up and it was like 10 degrees out, so it wasn't that warm inside

.BUT...he was a witness..I remember him dragging himself to a meeting when he was jaundiced so bad. He would come home and collapse. But he was determined to make it to at least one meeting a week.

His JW mom and sister came to stay for a week and he went to the meetings with them , then they would come home and sit out on our porch together and leave me alone in the house. If I went out there they would stop talking..so eventually I just left them alone..I knew what they were talking about with him..something I couldn't.."The New World" that they would be seeing him in. I couldn't tell him that.Broke my heart too.

Snoozy...sorry for ramblin on..I would be afraid to take my life..even towards the end. I would be afraid I would botch it up and be in more pain..

eyeslice

Excellent topic - because I guess we should all try to live our lives as if only a few months left to live, as none of us know what is round the corner. We might never get to do that trip we always wanted to do, look up old friends or just take things a little easier.

The problem is that life, family commitments and other responsibilities get in the way of doing what we might really want.

Me? I would spend the time traveling and getting my family to meet up with me in some far flung corner of the world. And then, perhaps my last year I would spend with people who could teach me transcendental meditation and the like, so I might be able to both cope and get some understanding of what this life is about.

Eyeslice

RubaDub

I wouldn't bother repainting the attic.

Rub a Dub

Open mind

Wow Snoozy!

Thank you for sharing that.

Your story brought up a couple of "JW twists" to this whole topic. I never really thought about the exclusion that non-JW relatives would feel in a situation like you experienced. The JWs are mentally petting paradise tigers while the non-JWs look on.

Of course JWs have to "grind it out" no matter what. On the one hand, I suppose the meetings and "the friends" can give a person a reason to hang in there if that's what they really want. But the flip side is there's no choice in the matter. Currently, that's not just a JW issue, but I hope that changes over time.

FWIW, here are the only places where Assisted Suicide is currently legal:

Oregon
Belgium
The Netherlands
Switzerland

If more places make it legal you won't have to worry about this:

I would be afraid I would botch it up and be in more pain..

Thanks again Snoozy. (You too White Cockatoo.)

eyeslice:

Why can't you learn about TM right now?

RubaDub:

LOL!

Nice to see you.

OM

Open mind

For anyone who's interested, here's a link to a FAQ list from the Oregon Dept. of Human Services.

http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/pas/faqs.shtml

What surprised me is that although you do have to prove to a doctor that you're an Oregon "resident", there is no minimum time requirement for proving residency.

Here's a couple of specifics:
****************************
Q: How does a patient demonstrate residency?

A: A patient must provide adequate documentation to the attending physician to verify that s/he is a current resident of Oregon. Factors demonstrating residency include, but are not limited to: an Oregon Driver License, a lease agreement or property ownership document showing that the patient rents or owns property in Oregon, an Oregon voter registration, a recent Oregon tax return, etc. It is up to the attending physician to determine whether or not the patient has adequately established residency.

Q: How long does someone have to be a resident of Oregon to participate in the Act?

A: There is no minimum residency requirement. A patient must be able to establish that s/he is currently a resident of Oregon.

Q: Can a non-resident move to Oregon in order to participate in the Act?

A: There is nothing in the law that prevents someone from doing this. However, the patient must be able to prove to the attending doctor that s/he is currently a resident of Oregon.

*****************************

I hope I never need this information. But I'm glad to know about it if I ever do.

OM

avishai

Depends on how excruciating. I'm in a lot of pain most of the time, and pretty non-productive (head/neck/back injury which also caused seizures) But you get to where you don't notice it, seriously, it just adds to fatigue is all. Other than that, I have a great life, get to raise my daughter (with help from family) and have just as much of a fulfilling, if not even moreso life than before I became disabled. Now, like final stages of cancer? I could'nt say. Hell, I wanted to end my dad when he was in his final stages and I was only 13, but I understood that that was'nt anyway to live. But, then again, I might feel differently in his shoes.

PEC

In the two years, I would travel and see places that I have always wanted to see and maybe some that I didn't want to see.

I would skip the one year of severe pain, I have had enough pain in my life, it is time to check out early.

A re c ent JWD thread, got me thinking seriously about, how to end my life, when I decide it is my time to go. I have a painless way to end it all, figured out, the only problem is making it look like an accident. If everyone thinks it is an accident it will be easier for them.

You may ask why I would even think about suicide, being healthy and no where near death door? Just like it is never too early to plan for retirement, it is never too early to plan your escape.

I hope Barbie Doll doesn't read this, she might have me locked up for my own protection.

Philip

2 yrs good health left + 1 yr severe pain. How would it change you?

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