This is of course yet another of the very serious issues for humans that in many ways is clouded and confused by blind belief(s).
On Oct 2, 1:43 pm, "Liz Purkrabek" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I took care of a lady at the nursing home where I worked who was dying of > pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is nasty. No cancer is fun, but > pancreatic cancer is one of the most torturous in my opinion. > > Anyway, the lady spent the last month of her life lying on a hospital bed > with a disconnected feeding tube (that had moss colored material backing up > into the tube, likely from a fecal impaction from the immobility and large > doses of narcotic pain meds she was given. I didn't have much experience > yet and didn't recognize the impaction, especially since she was no longer > taking in any nutrition. Sad thing though, none of the other very > experienced nurses did anything but give the woman pain pills and help her > take her bone thin frame to the toilet. Until, that is, she could no longer > walk.) > > I watched that lady die. It took her a moth, A MONTH to die. A MONTH. > A MONTH of eating nothing but ice chips and asking the nurses, "Why am I > still alive?" the doctor refused her request to help her commit suicide, > and she finally died alone and absolutely miserable in a little nursing home > bed that didn't even have a good window view even if she could get up to see > or get past the pain to care. > > My best nursing judgment was to kill her. I didn't kill her because it > was illegal to do so, but the "morally" and technically correct (if you > start with the fundamental understanding that the nurse is the patient's > advocate) thing to do would have been to overdose her on her pain medicine. > I could have done it. > > I watched another lady have a stroke and lie in bed beckoning to me but > unable to speak or eat or move one whole side of her body and much of the > other. She had a living will that clarified her desire that there would be > no feeding tube or IV fluids. It only took her about a week to dry up like > a husk and die. I didn't kill her either, but I gave her the morphine she > was prescribed every two hours just like it was ordered, although I wish the > doctor would have prescribed some morphine for me. > > Liz > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jason > (Memphis) > Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2008 1:53 PM > To: Memphis Freethought Alliance > Subject: Re: Oregon Leads > > If I remember correctly from living in California (right below > Oregon), very few sick people who get a lethal dose actually kill > themselves. I forget what the percentage is but I think that it's > very low. However, I think people just like to know that if they want > to die, they have the pills to take to die painlessly and with > certainty. It's sort of like a control thing...or, if the pain/quality > of life gets too bad, I can press the "end it" button but few people > press that button. > > On Oct 2, 10:39 am, Clogtowner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi y'all - just in > case:http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/oct/02/law.health1- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Memphis Freethought Alliance" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/memphisfreethoughtalliance?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
