I want to live as long as humanly possible but the key word is LIVE. If I had no quality of life or living became intolerably painful or I had some type of degenerative disease like Alzheimers, I would want to be able to end things.

I am more afraid of being long term sick, losing my quality of life, etc, than I am of dying. A long lingering, draining, painful illness with out hope of recovery is not really living.

 

One thing I heard from a very close friend that unfortunatley had to go through this with her mother a few years back but the question they went through was "quality of life" vs "quantity of life". They knew they didn't have the quantity part so they did everything her mother wanted to get done with the quality part but then..near the end she still had to suffer for quite a bit of time. BS in my book. If the person is "ready" and "it's time" then let them do what they want to do in a peaceful, painless manner.

 

I agree and think that it goes both ways. We don't need "Officials" helping us to make the decisions to end it all --
--- and we certainly don't need "officials" telling us we can't.

There are some aspects of life to important to leave to anyone but ourselves and those we, as individuals, chose to share responsibility with.

 

^^^ agree, agree, agree

 

I would expand this logic WAAAAAAAAY out beyond end of life choices.

 

This worries me too. I'm unmarried, have no children, and I expect to outlive all of my siblings. The thought of being incapacitated with no one to watch out for me is frightening.

 

I think we would all agree on the desire for quality of life. But, don't look for any consensus on what that means.

 

Let's imagine for a moment you suddenly had a time machine and could bring several versions of yourself from the past for a conference on the topic.
Let's say, you at age 18, 25, 35 and 50.
I'm betting you couldn't get a consensus from yourself.

I know my thoughts on what would be acceptable at the age of 18 differs radically now that I have learned to live with some minor annoyances in life.

I do suspect however, that that they're would be a subset where my decision would be to not play anymore.

 

My mother lived to 86. She was in reasonably good health until the last two years of her life. My father had died four years earlier. Her menatl health was excellent, if you talked to her on the phone you would have no idea what her age was. There was no perceptible mental deterioration.

In the last year she had multiple problems. She was taking more than ten medications. She was in the hospital because of circulation problems evere few months. My brother or I would travel to Miami, where she lived in her own house with live in help every other month.

On the last visit she said that she felt that her quality of life was no longer sufficient. How would I feel if she stopped taking the medications that were keeping her alive. I told her that I would be comfortable with her decision about her own life.

About three days after I was back home I received a call from her live-in help that she had gone into the hospital once again and that while there she was not taking medications. She died within 24 hours.

I am very proud that she was able to make that decision and remain in control of her own life. I would hope that I would be able to do the same.

Both my wife and myself feel that we do not want to stay alive if we decide that our health was no longer sufficient in a similar circumstance. We would not want to be a burden to our children or to society as well.

My parents are buried in Miami. I never visit their grave because their inanimate remains have no meaning for me. They remain alive in my memory and are frequently remembered in conversation with my wife.

 

Starbrd, that is a very touching post.

I am glad that your mother apparently lived a long full life with not too much suffering.