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Thread ID: 138839	2015-01-30 23:56:00	"old person's friend"	mzee (3324)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1393385	2015-01-30 23:56:00	"There is a nickname for pneumonia occasionally used by doctors: "old person's friend". Sometimes in the very elderly whose quality of life is thought to be very poor because of other chronically disabling medical conditions, the difficult decision is made not to use antibiotics, but rather to let nature take its course. This sort of decision should be made only in consultation with a patient's family, and the patient him or herself, if possible." I found the above somewhere on line. Raises the question, is Euthanasia legal if all you do is withhold treatment? I had pneumonia three times last year, and it is very painful. If they choose to withhold treatment why not just give you an injection as you would a pet to save suffering? Its high time euthanasia was made legal. When I was in Hospital the ward had several patients of over 90 years of age who were completely dependent on the nurses and were all terminal. Probably the worst things were complete loss of dignity, and their poor relations visiting every day and wondering how much longer its going to be, while the patient is quite unaware of the visitor. The Hospitals are full of geriatrics on their last legs, and most of them would go if given the chance. I am 81 now and have no wish to carry on if I become totally dependent on other people.	mzee (3324)
1393386	2015-01-31 00:48:00	I do not think that euthanasia is a very good idea but I do not believe in keeping people alive simply because they can keep people alive. In that case I think they should withhold the treatment and if they die, so be it. It is a very hard decision to make, particularly when the person concerned may not be able to give their consent to having the plug pulled. And it is not fair putting the onus on the doctor. They would be playing God which would be a very unenviable position. While the doctor may be in a better position to make the decision does not make it any easier on the doctor. I don't think that I would want to be the doctor who made that decision. I really think that if the person is terminally ill, they should just be left to die. What is the point of prolonging the agony? But it still comes down to who is going to make the decision? It's a hard one.	Roscoe (6288)
1393387	2015-01-31 01:02:00	www.alllaw.com Just been though all this with Mum last year, she was the secretary for the Euthanasia Society South Island for many years. "Death With Dignity" haha how ironic. Mum had a major stroke following many TIA's over the preceding couple of years, she took 10 days to die after withdrawal of hydration and feeding whilst in a morphine induced coma, (starved and dehydrated to death in front of our eyes, the best the medical service can offer legally here) very distressing for all of us, exactly what she didn't want. Poor Mum, not the worst death but not really what she wanted. She was 92.	zqwerty (97)
1393388	2015-01-31 01:20:00	I feel for you Z. My Mum died in 2004 after being semi comatose for over 2 years as advancing dementia slowly killed her. We hope that at least, she knew nothing of it! To me, that was death of the worst kind. She had already had the previous 4 years of rapid loss of all her facilities before she slipped into unconciousness. Unfortunately, her heart was great as a result of good diet and general clean living, this keeping her alive. Could you call that alive?. For our family, it was pretty traumatic. I am a supporter of euthanasia although in Mums case it would be putting the onus on a medical person to do it. Life sure isn't fair!! So, when your Dr.tells you to eat well, don't smoke and drink...tell him to sod off. Ken Ken	kenj (9738)
1393389	2015-01-31 01:40:00	Yes Mum never drank or smoked to excess, gave up smoking in the 50's. She always was up on the latest info, a very dynamic woman, she was Lady Hay's Social Secretary during Hamish's tenure as the Mayor. Up until the earthquakes she was driving to Waitakiri Golf course twice a week and playing 9 holes even at 88. She went to the same school as Margaret Thatcher, and was also a shopkeepers daughter, and seemed to me to be a kinder version of that personage. After the second (Feb) earthquake we sent her to Aussie to stay with my sister for 6 months to see what would happen over here and give her a break, from the trashed house that Mum and Dad had put 40 years into. She rushed out the front door all set for an adventure in Aussie and came back 6 months later using a walking frame!!!!! Really fast deterioration. Reading on the internet it is said that anyone with a propensity to TIA's should not fly at all. Mum's body was robust from careful living, loved gardening, played tennis a good deal when younger, and good genes a bit frail in old age that's why she took ages to die so I take your joke at the end of your last post as very valid.	zqwerty (97)
1393390	2015-01-31 02:20:00	I too have been down the road of watching friends and relatives die deaths that you would go to jail for if you were to treat an animal similarly. In one case, my father-in-law begged me to shoot him. He was riddled with cancer, had lost all dignity having lost control of his bladder and bowel, and was simply rotting to death lying in his own excrement. Anyway, I couldn’t wander into the Waikato Hospital with a gun to carry out his wishes so I had a brainwave. After giving the matter much thought I figured if I popped back next day and adjusted his morphine drip appropriately, he would just fade painlessly away. So back I go next day to do the dead and bugger me, they’ve taken the Drip away and replaced it with some sort of Morphine Patch. The sadistic sods can’t have wanted him to die peacefully so they kept him alive another couple of weeks. If Doctors can certify you Terminally Ill in order to collect Life Insurance prior to your death, they should be able to authorise your death at your discretion. Surly a man has some right to a dignified death.	B.M. (505)
1393391	2015-01-31 02:25:00	I for one support euthanasia. My grandfather lost two wives to cancer, both of whom were suffering through it.	pcuser42 (130)
1393392	2015-01-31 02:26:00	Apparently only animals are entitled to a dignified death. People get punished for other people believing in some kind of invisible friend with very peculiar whims.	R2x1 (4628)
1393393	2015-01-31 02:31:00	The god people govern that, can't have us doing gods work.	Cicero (40)
1393394	2015-01-31 02:41:00	I sympathize with you all, I was fortunate in that both my parents died in a few months after taking ill. The Doctor should not be asked to make a decision, it would be contrary to his Hippocratic Oath, and he would run the risk of being sued by a member of the patient's family. There should be a court or committee which would make the final decision based on all the facts. Problem with this is that legal action can take ages and the whole operation become invalid. For this reason the committee/court would have to be exclusively for the purpose of euthanasia, and able to come to a quick decision.	mzee (3324)
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