Current Events > Getting old and dying takes way too long. It sucks.

(+) Yeah! (+)

My topic on my gran being in hospital made me remember when my grandad went in hospital as well. He was there for a good three months slowly deteriorating before finally passing to the point it was almost a blessing when it finally happened. I really wish there were better pathways not just for old people but younger people with debilitating conditions. Im from the UK and we have no sort of euthanasia in place and it just feels like sometimes forcing someone to stay alive for the sake of it when there is little to no hope. Im not sure I have a point. Just venting more than anything but I imagine / hope people know what Im talking about. I completely get a hospitals duty of care to their patient but slowly dying in a bed in pain over a number of weeks, months or even years just seems wrong in some regards for a lot of different reasons.

Primarily the quality of life thats afforded to people in that situation where they are almost kept alive beyond their natural expiry date for no reason other than to keep them alive regardless of the prognosis.

Secondly because of the amount of effort and resources it takes to keep someone, and I only use the term because I cant think of a better more appropriate one, artificially alive. That could potentially be used elsewhere for other conditions and people who can be fixed and have an improved quality of life. I imagine hospitals are just full of people slowly dying with no chance and what sense does that make really?

Anyone wanna counter this because Im feeling really down at the moment and begging someone can talk me out of this mindset as Im not sure its correct at all but based on personal experience alone it feels right.

No you're not wrong, people just aren't really comfortable with the idea of euthanasia for various reasons.

But once it's clear that person is not going to live and is in pain, it is in fact cruel to keep them alive. This should not be a controversial opinion, unnecessary suffering is bad.

Honestly being against euthanasia in situations where it's the most humane option is arguably evil.

Oh wow. I wasnt expecting it to be so universally in favour in terms of being appropriate in some situations. I get there are concern around not being abused but appreciate people see it as an issuer. I was in a pretty dark place yesterday and feeling better today. Cheers all.

AceAttorneyist posted...

Honestly being against euthanasia in situations where it's the most humane option is arguably evil.

Putting down grandma is a bit different from putting down a dog.

Honestly I hope I get killed on the streets or die in some bad ass way.

Don't want to get old and die in some lame ass way in some hospital bed.

When my grandma finally died, it was objectively the best thing for her. She had alzheimers and her health absolutely plummeted when my grandpa passed a few years prior.

FolkenRawr posted...

When my grandma finally died, it was objectively the best thing for her. She had alzheimers and her health absolutely plummeted when my grandpa passed a few years prior.

yeah deffo same situation here. My grandad died about 18 months ago. Shes not been the same since. As youd expect tbh.

Due to relativity time passes the older you get.

But more related to TC's post, I feel you. My grandmother was "lucky" enough where her condition was so bad her family was given the choice to pull the plug and she always told us she never wanted to live as a vegetable.

My own conspiracy theory is that in America we don't have proper euthanasia because greedy people with dollar bills for eyes love how expensive our Medicare is and keeping elderly people in the hospital for a long time gets them the big bucks.

Sorry to hear about your gran. Hope you're doing OK. I agree that there are better ways of managing this than simply waiting for someone to die.

What I will say though, is that if you think your gran is in pain, please talk to the nurses and the doctor in charge of her care. There is no reason why anyone should suffer pain in these situations, but they often do as they can't admit that to the staff. Her medication can be adjusted to make things easier.

deoxxys posted...

My own conspiracy theory is that in America we don't have proper euthanasia because greedy people with dollar bills for eyes love how expensive our Medicare is and keeping elderly people in the hospital for a long time gets them the big bucks.

That's probably more accurate than you think.

In the other topic I described my situation. Being a caretaker of someone close to you is doubly hard. She gave me POA because she was estanged from her children. She even tried to reconcile and they were still holding on to the past. Your mother is dying and has months to live and you bring up drama from 30 years ago. It was a real hard choice on her part to put that on me. I don't fault her though. Close to the end she just gave up and her doctors entered her in hospice. I'm sure she's in a better place with all 7 of the husband and family members. I'll leave here with this. If you are a smoker please quit. No one should go through what she went through.

vycebrand2 posted...

In the other topic I described my situation. Being a caretaker of someone close to you is doubly hard. She gave me POA because she was estanged from her children. She even tried to reconcile and they were still holding on to the past. Your mother is dying and has months to live and you bring up drama from 30 years ago. It was a real hard choice on her part to put that on me. I don't fault her though. Close to the end she just gave up and her doctors entered her in hospice. I'm sure she's in a better place with all 7 of the husband and family members. I'll leave here with this. If you are a smoker please quit. No one should go through what she went through.

About two weeks ago, there was a hospice patient at the ER I work at who was so eaten up by cancer that her body was positively skeletal. I didn't know until I met her how large the jugular vein really was. The neck muscles that usually obscure it were withered away and her skin clung tightly to it.

I can only hope she's found release by now. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Putting down grandma is a bit different from putting down a dog.

When someone is in a comatose state (never to wake up) or at the point where day to day living is painful and theres no quality of life, its not controversial. Its the right thing to do.

The fact that people have requested death and been denied makes the bureaucrats responsible for denying them some of the most evil people whove ever lived. Worse yet the pieces of shit think theyre the good guys because suicide is wrong or some other Bible-thumping horseshit.

Humans have less rights than animals when it comes to end of life mercy