To think we should have the right to die

[sirlee66]

If my dog was, God forbid, hit by a car or became terminal and there was no way she would get better, She'd get out down. It would be the kindest thing for her

I recently lost my Grandad. He had dementia and developed some other complications. We weren't close but it was still sad to see someone I once knew as so strong become so very frail. It was incredibly hard on my poor Mum.

Towards the end he was very ill. I wouldn't let my dog suffer in the way he did.

I don't know. I have very mixed emotions about it at the minute. I don't know what to think.

Is it unreasonable to want 'dieing with dignity' to be legal in the UK?

YANBU I think there should be a system where you have to register your interest yearly. Some people would never want to be euthanised and it could be easily spotted if they were being manipulated into doing it by their family or carers or hospital staff etc, if they had had to register whether they would want that on a regular basis throughout their lives. You could quickly spot who was being manipulated near the end of their lives and who genuinely had always wished to be euthanised in those circumstances.

We're currently waiting for my BIL to die from lung cancer. It's bloody awful. I would like the option to end my suffering early.

I totally think we should. I had MS my options were HSCT or Digitas.

If I hadn't has the HSCT I would have absolutely gone to Digitas. My Granddad died of dementia, if he could he would have died with dignity much earlier. Instead they left him so he was a body, a shell of who he was. No way I would want that.

I absolutely agree OP. Why we allow animals to have a dignified death but not humans I don't understand. I keep hoping that by the time I am old you can just sign something and take a pill. I have no wish to burden my dcs or lose my dignity.

My grandad lived to 93...,but with both legs amputated, no sight left and previous little hearing either, it was a hellish existence for the last year or so. Very hard on him and also on the family.

Tabbymack you can define euthanasia in different ways - voluntary euthanasia is what you are referring to as assisted suicide, non-voluntary euthanasia is the kind of situation where the person is unable to give consent, which I would agree is very problematic.

Yanbu at all, the right to die with dignity.

@Yogagirl123 I get it. We all have our limit don't we. Mine was EDSS x, if I got to that I was going. I know some people go on longer but we individually have our limits.
I remember telling my neurologist that and she was shocked, but when I asked her what limit she had if she had MS you could see the light switched on.
DH knows the score, thankfully because of the HSCT it's not necessary now, but you have to make your wishes known, did you know you can apply to dignitas early, just in case sort of scenario.

YANBU. As we have developed the medical know-how to extend life, so we really need to grasp the nettle and agree when enough is enough.

My own elderly DM is currently in a nursing home. She is mentally fine, but is bedridden, doubly incontinent, deaf and practically blind, and on a hugely restricted diet. Every time I visit her she spends most of the time I'm with her telling me that she wants to die, that she doesn't understand why she is still here, and that all she wants is to be with her husband, my father, who died nearly 20 years ago. If a doctor could give her some medication to take I know she would happily take it. It's what she wants, and we would all breathe a huge sigh of relief for her.

All of these posts say ‘when the time comes’ but who is going to make the judgement? Those who can ask are few and far between, many of these posts refer to people who can’t, for example because they have dementia. So who decides? Your partner? Your GP? And in that system you’d have to accept that sometimes that judgement will be wrong and people will be killed too soon. And how are safe guards put in place?

I’m not totally against assisted suicide but it is hugely more complex than many of these posts describe especially with things like locked-in syndrome. I have no idea how you’d judge that someone who has dementia no longer has a life worth living and sincerely know that was what they would think too.

Dignitas all the way. I’m disgusted at what I see people put through when they want to be allowed to die. As pp have said, we wouldn’t do it to our animals.

Totally agree. I think if it's specified in someone's will, for example for people who aren't capable of expressing it at the time, we should respect their wishes. Why should people endure unnecessary suffering?

Tara

Of course she has the right to a dignified death. I hope that the medical professionals are all working hard to ensure that she gets one.

But I truly believe that no one has the right to decide her life should end except her. Given that she cannot make that decision herself then the right way forward is comfort and relief of pain.

I feel strongly we should have the right to die. Watching someone waste away always makes me think no thats not how i'm leaving this world wasted and in agony no way I'm also not leaving my kids with that memory of me.

TheNoseyProject
All of these posts say ‘when the time comes’ but who is going to make the judgement?

You.
This is why you have top have a conversation with your partner/husband/next of kin.
DH and I know each other wishes.
Because of the MS I decided on an EDSS limit.

Newyears

The NHS makes the same distinction that I've made:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/euthanasia-and-assisted-suicide/

Actually, having read that link a bit further, they then go on to make the same distinctions you have too. Which is confusing!

Anyway, I think we're in agreement regardless of defintions.

Once I have put my son through uni, I'm going to be starting a Switzerland fund. When I'm ready, before I lose my facilities, I will be using it.

The right, and the choice. Look up Noel Conway, currently fighting to have an alternative to the slow suffocation that awaits him from motor neurone. Look up Sandy Bem, who had the choice to end her life before her dementia took everything, and because she loved in Oregon could take that choice.

Equally, simon fitzmaurice, film maker, also with motor neurone but who wanted to carry on and did until the last moment. Choices.

And shame on those who deny those choices. Almost always because of beliefs which others don't share.

I'm not sure it's totally impossible in the uk. My dad was 87 and in hospital when he was (finally) diagnosed with lung cancer and given a few weeks to a few months to live. He asked the consultant if he could be 'put down'. Of course not. But the absolutely wonderful ward doctor was very understanding when I said we were very anxious that my dad shouldn't be in any pain. We really pushed this and the doctor said that he could increase pain relief but it would probably hasten death. I went in one morning and he said that he'd sat with my dad for a while during the night and discussed this with him and he was clear that he wanted as much pain relief as he could be given so he (the doctor) was content to administer this. My dad died 2 days later. I believe, but don't know, that this was down to the doctor. I am eternally grateful to him.

My mother on the other hand suffered a three year decline with dementia. I wouldn't let my dogs suffer like that.

I 100% will be campaigning for this to happen in the UK. I was once a carer for anything from dementia/cancer and motor neurons and other illnesses.

My family member died of MN disease. Imagine beimg stuck in bed. Unable to use your limbs. Your body in agony but you cant speak you cant move and eventually you cant swallow or breathe but the whole time your mind knows exactly whats coming. If you would genuinelly be fine with that happening to you then crack on. I dont find it ok to forcefully make someone suffer to death. Artificial feedings and life prolonging medication can be more cruel that kind.

We already do have the right to die. Suicide is not illegal.

We just don't have the right to oblige someone else to kill us. Thank God.

I mean that as if your mind is sharp you can make your own decision on your life. With dementia i dont think its right for people to suffer.

Suicide is not illegal now. That does not help people who are paraplegic and want to end their life.

that does not help people who are paraplegic and want to end their life

Indeed. Those people just need to convince a loved one or medical professional to kill them and face the consequences.

What you are arguing for is the right to kill, not the right to die.

Lots of sloppy thinking on this issue.

And people shouldn't have to commit suicide and risk a botched, painful death - or a failed attempt. They should be helped to a painless and quick death if it's what they want.