Life is for Living - LOH Community Contest #125
Life is for Living not so?
Merely Existing is not Living in my dictionary.
We do encounter Pain and Suffering along the way, but overcome that as the healing process takes place.
However, when facing a terminal illness and there is no hope of recovery, and the suffering escalates, it naturally starts affecting the family, and eventually requires hospitalization.
If it were me, I would rather give up that hospital bed for someone who has a chance of full recovery.
I do believe we should have the choice to gently and quietly leave this world, and not only free ourselves but also our loved ones from endless distress; mentally, physically, and financially.
I've never spoken of my faith here, as it's a very personal journey, but when it comes to euthanasia, it is of relevance in this post.
We are told that it's not our decision to choose the moment we say goodbye to this world. I however do believe in a God of compassion who has given us free will. Right or wrong, I cannot say and will not go into a debate on a public platform.
I saw how my Mom suffered when the brain tumour grew bigger and started affecting her mobility, speech, swallowing, and eventually her breathing. At the time, some said we should have her admitted to hospital for tube feeding.
Thankfully I could still understand what she was trying to say, and she did not want to hear of any such intervention.
Mom was in a hurry to get to her forever home, so why prolong the inevitable?
Photo by David Tomaseti on Unsplash
Mom and I discussed about not wanting to be kept alive at all costs, after a close friend was on and off life support for six weeks, with no hope of ever having anything close to a normal life again.
She and her husband had spoken of drawing up a Living Will but never got around to it.
Her family had to eventually sign a document to give the doctors permission to turn off life support and not resuscitate her if she suffered cardiac arrest.
It was not easy, but it was the most compassionate thing to do.
These two awful experiences just enforced my belief that we should have the choice of what happens to us when the final curtain calls.
As with death, euthanasia is not an easy topic to discuss, but for me personally, I would not want to undergo harsh medical interventions in an attempt to prolong my life and suffering, if there is absolutely no chance of recovery. Give me something to put me to sleep forever, so I could gently drift away to a new world.
I was interested to learn where the word is derived from, and discovered it comes from the Greek words “eu” meaning good and “thanatos” meaning death.
Good death sounds good to me!
This has been my response to a controversial subject, one of the questions in this week's Ladies of Hive Community Contest #125,
For this week we want to know:
1️⃣ According to the Internet, Euthanasia is the intervention voluntarily accepted by the patient and performed by a medical professional, which accelerates the death of a terminally ill patient, with the intention of avoiding unnecessary suffering and pain. Do you agree with this way of dying, do you think it dignifies the person in his decision of how to leave, or on the contrary, do you think it should not be practiced? Could you argue your point of view?
~ 𝐀𝐍𝐃 / 𝐎𝐑 ~
2️⃣ On March 8th we celebrated Women's Day, so we invite you to write a story in honor of women, with fictional characters, in a place that lives in your imagination, and with an unexpected outcome. Remember, your imagination is the limit.
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I agree with you 100%! Just hanging on in constant pain isn't a fun thing for anyone to go through. I've seen it many times... Great post and an extremely important topic in my opinion!
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Hi @thebighigg, it's not an easy topic but something I would want for myself if I had the choice.
Could I do it for someone else? No.
All we could do for my Mom was to make her as comfortable as possible by having caregivers during the last two weeks, as she needed constant care, it was awful.
Thank you for your valued comments.
Life is extremely finite. As I've grown older I've come to the realization that I'm no longer immortal like I was in my 20's and 30's (at least so I thought!) Having the option to end my life with dignity sure beats the hell out of lingering on in an ICU suffering from ICU psychosis and lines everywhere. Having worked in the medical field I've watched too many people go that way and it's never a dignified way to go. Thanks for bringing up such and important topic and hopefully people take it to heart and encourage lawmakers to allow the option to everyone.
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Oh it's such a controversial topic. I think though, if we say no one else should have power over another human being in life (aside the law, for purposes of civil order and safety) why do we do that when they make the decision to die?
I could never do that, but really would want it for myself if I were to get to a stage where life becomes a living hell.
However, is it then selfish to expect someone else to do that? Yes and no.
With a lethal injection? Not sure
Be given enough painkillers to put me to sleep and eventually slip away? Yes.
Can that be called Euthanasia?
A very difficult decision, if we had the choice of course!
Enjoy the rest of your Thursday @riverflows xxx
You have had firsthand experiences that allow you to have a clearer idea about the decision that can be taken and above all the respect for the decision of the sick person. It is painful and traumatic to see how a person's life is ending in pain.
It really is such a difficult topic and I could never be the one to do something like that, but I do believe we should be given the choice to have enough medication to keep us painfree, even if it means we will just go to sleep and die. Much kinder to loved ones as well.
Our family watched my father slowly deteriorate over a period of 6 years. As long as there was quality you wanted to do all you could, but by the time the end came, I think we all collectively agreed that there are fates worse than death. When there is no hope of any kind of life more than laying in bed in a nursing home or the such, I call that nothing left to live for. I think we should have a choice and hope someone doesn't decide to let us go before it's necessary ! 😯 so put someone you trust in charge. I also think hospice here is pretty much euthanasia these days, so if someone has to make that choice for you, it won't be long after.
So you've also seen a loved one suffer and will understand when I say it was a living hell eventually. Mom used to cry out and tell me she wants to go 'home', to her 'forever home' as she called it. Six years must have been absolute torture for your Dad and your family!
Yes not an easy subject and like you say one needs someone who will not make a rash decision before it's really necessary.
Have a good Thursday @jacey.boldart.
For anyone who has watched a loved one die a slow and agonizing death, every day is made up of suffering while the entire family watches. Helpless to do anything. There is much love and care that goes into that every day, but, the reality is that you search every day for some moment of quality
There is no textbook answer to this. It has deep-seated religious implications, personal thoughts on it, right down to laws...
This isn't much of an answer.
Mixed feelings on this subject for sure, I could never do that.
You've experienced seeing the suffering and caring for a loved one right to the end, where life becomes a living hell!
There is no right nor wrong answer to this because it has massive implications, as you put so well.
I would not want to suffer like my Mom did, but would it be fair to ask another person to make that call and end it all?
Big sigh!
I can just pray that I don't have to see a loved one suffer like that again.
Not an easy subject for sure 💔
I don't think I could ask anyone to make that call, because how fair would that be? I wouldn't want to make the call for anyone either. I am not qualified to play God. I pray I never had to watch a loved one suffer like that again.
For sure, a subject that is too difficult.
I couldn't do it for my dog. I am sure I cannot decide for my mother and I hope it won't be the case. But I'd want it for myself..instead of making it harder for others or even for my body....I can only imagine how hard it must have been for you to go through this. I'm sending you a powerful hug and a ray of light!
Thank you @zpek, I echo your sentiments 100%, I could not do it for someone else but would want it for myself.
Is that fair?
Not easy at all!
Hugs right back to you.
Why not have total ownership over our own lives and bodies as well? I think it's fair, @lizelle. Yet another hug!
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This sentence sums up entirely what I think about it, I was delighted to have read you, life is for living and there is a point where that is no longer possible. I don't think it is compassionate to extend the agony, in fact when it comes to animals, we talk about putting an end to their suffering, I think that humans also have that right, especially when it comes to our will.
It could not have been better said.
A hug 🤗
Thank you for your thoughtful comments @syllem, I just pray to never be faced with such a choice.
When my Mom was struggling that last month, we did our best to make her comfortable. We had caregivers coming to our home during the day. They pampered her, massaging her with oils. She used to sleep like a baby after her daily bedbath and body massage. Hubby & I took over at night. She really suffered, it was awful seeing her like that.😪
In such a situation, the person affected suffers for himself and for those he loves, because he knows that they also suffer. God protect us 🙏.
Circumstances come into play in each situation, never easy as it always plays on ones conscious!
I have a DNR in a Living Will which my family are fully aware of. Watching a person going through direct manual tube feeding into the stomach, welts, sores from cancer treatment, hopefully never again in my lifetime.
Too a good healthy mind to the end, let it be quick! Euthanasia is another story, this would truly need to be under very special, precise instruction written prior to any form of illness prevails, in sound mind especially!
Yes I fully agree about not being kept alive at all costs, but when it comes to Euthanasia, it's a whole new kettle of fish, it would be a VERY difficult decision, plus one would need to discuss it with those closest to us beforehand. Is it right, or is it wrong? I don't think any of us can answer that question.
Very personal decision to make, we all come with different beliefs or ideas of our own. Long and short of it is you have one life, a miracle in itself, at an age with pain or suffering, nothing wrong to ask. If abused like any other drug it could lead to mayhem.
'BRAVO!' for a well-written, and well-thought, entry to the contest! 💜
Thank you @thekittygirl, not an easy topic, but when you've personally seen a loved one struggling and begging to move on to the next world, it makes one think.
Thank you for the curation @thekittygirl and @innerblocks :)
Such a difficult topic! The origin of the word euthanasia is very interesting. If you have ever been present for a "natural" death (one without any medical intervention), you know how beautiful it can be. Horrible too, for the living, of course, but gentle too, and with a great deal of relief if the person was suffering, as your mother was. Her death, and my son's, were not what I have thought of as euthanasia, but they were the deaths chosen by those two. It may not mean, as I have thought, to hasten death, but rather to allow it to happen. As bereft as I can sometimes become, I know I did the right thing in allowing him to go when he chose to.
Now you have me in tears @owasco! You've described it so perfectly because that is exactly how it was.
It was such a release of enormous suffering. Mom had been agitated that morning, tried to say something to me just before she went. I could not make out what she was saying at the time as her speech was badly affected.
Afterward, I realized she had said -
She then became peaceful, her breathing slowed down, and she just quietly slipped away.
Awfully sad, but at the same time, such a tremendous relief that she no longer was suffering.
Hugs to you @owasco for putting this so beautifully, I cannot begin to imagine how one can deal with the loss of a child.
I don't know what to say. I'm crying too. But thank you for getting me so well.