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The Right Kind Of Death Panel
The Short Film Knocked Up & Juno Hath Begat
New York, 12:53 PM
Thu Nov 12
73 posts in the last 24 hours
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The Right Kind Of Death Panel |
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09/15/09
I already have this discussion with each patient upon admission to the unit. I'm a one-woman death panel!!
Anyhoo, everyone have this conversation now, now, now with your loved ones and get a living will!
It's not just for the elderly. Remember Terri Schiavo?
09/15/09
We really do need to think about how we handle death in the healthcare system. The goal should not be avoiding it at all costs, because we can see those costs are too.goddamned.high. The very old and the very sick are going to die. The least we can do is help them do it with dignity, not try to milk every last healthcare dollar out of their final moments.
09/15/09
We live in a strange country that values life but not the quality of it.
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09/15/09
Uggh. More likely : "41% of Americans heard the phrase 'Death Panels', and are too lazy to determine any other attribute about them, such as if they exist"
09/15/09
I am hoping that when I'm old, and diagnosed with something horrible, this country will finally have losened up and agreed that Dr. Kervorkian had the right idea. Why suffer when the end is certain?
I also hope that if I'm ever diagnosed with dementia I have enough wits about to me to off myself.
I don't see why this has to be such a controversial issue. My life, my choice. When I'm done, I'm done.
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It's a pretty thorough guide to some end of life questions, and encourages the patient to consider not only the medical decision, but the spiritual and emotional decisions as well, with their doctors and loved ones. It can help you establish a health care proxy, and make clear the types of treatment you would and would not like to be administered to you in your remaining time. It also takes in comfort measures, as specific as having your lips moistened, personal hygiene, cleaned bed linens, counseling for their loved ones, and burial wishes.
In class, we went through all these considerations in detail, and it saddens me that many patients are never given the opportunity to choose their own comfort, peacefulness, and dignity when they are dying. What is worse is that, in the current health care (I hesitate to call it a true "debate" with all of the mudslinging) climate, it is conversations like the ones Five Wishes encourages that are being included in the "death panel" rhetoric. Choosing how to die doesn't mean being assigned a disease, or chosen to be denied a treatment, or being euthanized. Choosing means you have the support and the resources to help you get your affairs in order, having a priest nearby, being able to request support for your loved ones, and being able to just go home. A lot of people die without these things, and as a future physician, I'm worried that the scare about death panels with continue to deny these supports and important conversations to patients.
09/15/09
09/15/09
I could just be projecting, but it seems like the whole death panel debacle is based on the fact that Obama's healthcare plan shamefully acknowledges the existence of death. Yes, people die. YOU will die. And when you die, you will sure as fuck want options beyond stretching your existence as long as modern medicine will feed you, breathe for you, and soak up your excrement. It doesn't do any good to pretend like we won't all have to talk about death and dying someday, and does even less good to brand any discussion of end-of-life options as forced euthanasia.
09/15/09
@Yahtzii:
09/15/09
09/15/09
my husband's grandmother had breast cancer that wasn't caught early enough, and it slowly spread throughout her body. she was 90. the doctors of course wanted to start radiation, chemo~~ for what? she didn't want this but her family (son, daughter and granddaughter) insisted and so she went through with the next two years of her life a living hell. all the cells in her body started breaking down, she leaked water from the pores in her legs~~
families have got to take a hard look at their own selfishness in not wanting their loved ones to die. everybody is going to die, and these extraordinary end-of-life measures only inflict more suffering on the dying.
09/15/09
I watched my grandmother deteriorate slowly over the years. Not that she either wanted to die or not, but I just don't think she even gave thought to whether or not she wanted to live like that. Too bad it could not have been a healthy, calm decision. I would have loved to see her enjoying her last 2 years instead of slowing declining over 10 years.
My dad always says, keep mowing the lawn when they tell you to stop, keep eating salt instead of going on high blood pressure medicine. Live your life.
09/15/09
It was amazing how much care they wanted to give to this old woman (94!) She had stomach pain, and they suspected cancer, but she told them that she didn't want treatment if it were cancer, so could they just give her meds to make it quit hurting? Shortly thereafter, she fell and broke her hip (while she was at a quite expensive nursing home) and laid on the floor for hours. They wanted to replace her hip. She knew, we all knew, that she was not going to walk again, and that she was not long for this world, new hip or not; further, the surgery would be painful (as well as expensive, but that was beside the point). She refused the surgery. I was staying with her shortly before she passed, and she called me over to her bed and asked me to pray for Jesus to come take her. I read the Newsweek article, and I agree with the author--knowing that my Nana was ready to die really took the sting out of it. I think that she could have been treated with more respect during her final days, but I'm glad that she was able to die somewhat peacefully, rather than from an infection from her surgery, or more likely, after never "waking up" afterwards.
My husband's 104-year-old great grandmother broke her hip, had it replaced, and then died (of complications) shortly thereafter. The doctors were really pushing for her to have it replaced, even though the survival rates (one way or the other) are absolutely miserable. The doctors should offer it, but I think they should make it clear that it's hardly a good prognosis. I imagine that many people would choose not to spend their final days unconcious and on a ventilator.
09/15/09
09/15/09
Communist.
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09/15/09
The vet finally told my sister last week -- Mollie isn't going to get better. It's time.
Mollie's last day on Earth is Friday. I have never loved a dog more. And I'll miss the hell out of her. But no one wants Mollie to suffer.
I don't understand why a human can't demand the same treatment.
BTW, Mollie is getting a Wendy's bacon double cheeseburger every day of the week. And all the cookies she demands.
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09/15/09
Anyway, thinking about this story and all the comments about dealing with end of life choices really made me emotional. I think that all creatures deserve to live and die with dignity. We (as a society) often forget that while we may have the technology and ability to do something, it doesn't mean it is the decent and humane thing to do. I hope our society can find a little more of its heart in issues like these.
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What I didn't realize was the effort it took to get her home. Her doctor kept wanting to try new treatments and it took _many_ times for my family to say no for her to actually be released from the hospital.
Whatever health care reform haters want to call it, some sort of Die Peacefully clause should be included.