Anyone watching "Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die"

[MindyMacready]

Uncomfortable viewing.

I can feel myself welling up.

Very uncomfortable, and I am welling up.
But I work with people with dementia, some days it's okay, other days I come home and tell DH that is I get like that to give me a handful of tablets. For his sake as well as mine.

im watching. very thought provoking. i do believe that you should have the choice, without travelling abroad, if that is your choice, if youre of sound mind, and if there is no hope of recovery.

watching this has not changed my mind.

Very hard to watch, and thought provoking.

How awful that such a brilliant man has got a disease that will leave him able to know that he is not as he should be. Must be absolutely heartbreaking for him.

sobbing away here, but I agree totally that it should be their right.

His poor family, watching him do this- they must just want to knock it out of his hand, even if it is for the best.

I feel so sorry for this man's wife. She does not want this, does she?

oh my goodness....this is hard,

His wife is been incredibly brave.

im crying now....bloody hell

welling up here, his wife was so strong for him.

I think as a family member you never ever want that for them, but when someone is in pain, or no longer the person they want to be then I can imagine people allowing them to do it.

Dementia is particularly hard because people stop being the person they were, but by that point they can't make the choice for themselves. The mid stages of dementia are heartbreaking for family, and scary and confusing for the person. The later stages are still heartbreaking for family, but the person is often no longer aware of what is happening.

I'm in tears here. But I do not regret watching this. Gosh its hard though. I didn't expect him to struggle but I felt he did when he was asking for water. Did I misunderstand that bit?

I was watching. Don't know what to say. Very moving.

Watching the Newsnight debate now.

I'm watching newsnight too. I'm a bit at a loss as to how I feel.

That was really quite hard to watch. It wasn't quite as peaceful as I always imagined it, but he obviously really wanted to go. Just hideous fornthe family member accompanying them.

BBT - They'd said earlier that the medication would make him feel very sick, even though they gave him medication to ease the nausea. I think that's why he was asking for water.

I think that bishop is talking out of his arse. I didn't see anything coercive about the programme.

I thought that too 2cats. It didn't seem as peaceful as I thought.

So sad that people seem to have to choose to die early because they are scared to leave it too long incase they are unable to make the journey.

Ah yes bilibo I remember. Why would they not let him have some?

had to turn off the newsnight debate. i think there is probably not a great way to die, but thats as near to it as it comes. he seemed quite peaceful, apart from i thought he struggled just a little when he asked for water, then seemed to slip into a deep sleep. i was moved by the way the doctor held him as he died.
the poor old fella. and his poor poor wife. but i do believe in the right to chose when to call it a day under the right circumstances.

I agree vicar. It is as close to peaceful as you can get I suppose. Its so sad.

I was troubled by the info that 21% of the users of Dignitas don't have a terminal or incurable condition. That's a very difficult area to get into. I can see why they couldn't cover it in the programme, but still.

They probably did let him have the water, they said it would take about 15 minutes so I expect that bit was very heavily cut.