Murder?

[milkweed]

yes I did. If the only thing I need to live is feeding, keep me on the feeding tube.

OK, would it be different if you were on a ventilator? I am under the impression the answer is no, that no matter what, you would want every imaginable device hooked to you, and someone standing guard just in case one of the devices failed, so they could perform cpr.

My brothers only daughter was born with anencephaly. Believe me, we have been over and over this topic for quite some time. He knows how I feel and I know how he feels.

I am not sure this is related. Of the people I know who endured this kind of issue, there was no life support given to the baby. There was no question the baby would die shortly after birth.

My dad took 10 yrs to die of spinal cancer. No one considered it a burden to take care of him. We are not that shallow of a family.

End of life decisions are hard for any family going through it. What I do find puzzling is how hard some find acceptance of their own, or a loved ones impending death. Burdens are placed on both the caretakers and the ones fighting a disease whos prognosis is death. You do know of some of the burdens or you would not have extended insurance. Its not shallow to be willing to give that extra when a family member is dying, but then, do you leave that family member with an extra burden of not being able to say, "I've had enough and I just want it to be over".

When is it ok to accept death will be the final result of this (mine, yours, their) life?

And as far as college goes, my children already know they have to get a scholarship, a job, or a loan. Mommy and Daddy don't pay for it.

OK. Interesting philosophy when combined with above issue.

 

[Orleander]

I find it odd that people are bound and determined for others to see that taking care of someone is a burden. I wasn't raised that way. Maybe its a Midwestern or a small town mind-set. We take care of family. We take care of the ones we love. To think of it as a burden would never enter my mind.
Its all so very sad to even consider it a burden

 

[Orleander]

I also don't plan on having a funeral or memorial service. I'm a full body donor. Is it selfish of me not to give my family and relatives a chance to get together and say good-bye? Is it a burden to them to think that some stranger is chopping up my body?

 

[milkweed]

I find it odd that people are bound and determined for others to see that taking care of someone is a burden. I wasn't raised that way. Maybe its a Midwestern or a small town mind-set. We take care of family. We take care of the ones we love. To think of it as a burden would never enter my mind.
Its all so very sad to even consider it a burden

The reality is it is an added burden placed upon family, the system, or the courts. This burden is a direct result of modern medicine prolonging life in an attempt to overcome death, combined with the influences of the various pro-life at all costs philosophy, and just for clarification this philosophy goes beyond a specific religious doctrine.

Any of you who live to be 40+ has already beaten the odds of survival within the natural course of life and each day beyond that is a gift, or luck, or genetics, when removing modern medicine and the various tools handed to the genetically inferior to ensure their propagation well into the future.

I also don't plan on having a funeral or memorial service. I'm a full body donor. Is it selfish of me not to give my family and relatives a chance to get together and say good-bye? Is it a burden to them to think that some stranger is chopping up my body?

Unrelated to the topic at hand, whether allowing nature to take its course is murder. However, depending on how long you cling to life via the marvels of modern medicine, it may be that major organs will be so damaged from infection, etc, that about all they will harvest will be possibly eyes, skin and tendons. The same things they can take from fresh suicides.

 

[shorty_37]

My dad took 10 yrs to die of spinal cancer. No one considered it a burden to take care of him. We are not that shallow of a family.

Dying of Cancer and being a brain dead vegetable is 2 totally different things. My mom was sick for a long time before they even found out she had cancer. Once they diagnosed it, she went through a good 2 yrs of hell. We did not consider it a burden, because for one thing she was still aware of who we were and her brain was functioning the same way it did before the cancer.

We did everything we could to help her get better, and make her life easier. There were good days and bad, but she knew we were all there to help. She was conscious of everything going on.

This kind of illness in no comparison to what this husband went through. He stood/sat by someone for 15 yrs who could never speak to him, or even realize he was there. We could express our love to her and she could receive it. We could hug her and get hugs back. She was the same person just sick.

You need to stop comparing being "sick" or dying of a disease with this diagnosis of persistent vegetative state (PVS)

 

[Asguard]

orleander watch someone you care about go through alzimers and then tell me its just a husband wanting the cash

 

[Orleander]

Is starving someone to death murder?

 

[Asguard]

NO, i already said that

Murder- the CRIME of illgally premeditated killing of someone
Cesation of curitive medical intervention- palitive care

 

[TW Scott]

I have been second guessing myself with the 'selfish' attacks I have read. So I asked my husband (he hasn't read this thread) if it would be selfish of me to ask that he take care of me if something happened to me. He didn't ask, "well how long" or "how sick would you be?" He said, "I vowed for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. I love you and I would be some kind of shallow bastard to not care about you if you got sick." I said "How long til it became a burden" He said "What the hell is wrong with you? Have you lost your mind. How can loving someone be a burden? You take care of me, I take care of you. That's how it is"

Do some of you not know what loving someone is? Did your grandparents and parents act that way if one of them became ill? When is an act of love a burden?

Okay, now add this. "What if I was gone mentally? No memories, no feelings, no emotions, no dreams, a complete vegetable that was NEVER going to get better. I could lvie 40 or 50 years on life support but there would be absolutely no chance I would ever be anything more than a crap machine. Would you keep me alive then?" See what response you get.