Growing Senile....your thoughts

diespel

*Warning - not for people with triggers*
Came across this today, http://deadatnoon.com/index.html made me do a lot of thinking. What would I do. Would my family support me.
The woman makes a lot of good points, especially in light of the ALS challenge (which my Nana died of as well as a few colleagues I played with)
Try to focus on the pain and not the religious or state implications.

LadyRN76

ALS, dementia, Alzheimer's are all debilitating and crippling diseases.

To watch someone lose themselves mentally is horribly tragic and for a person to accept that tragedy and make a decision to end their suffering is no one's business but their own. I can only imagine the fear of being diagnosed with such a life altering disease. Support for a personal and critical decision like that is not only warranted....it's vital and, IMHO, a part of loving someone completely.

diespel

Support for a personal and critical decision like that is not only warranted....it's vital and, IMHO, a part of loving someone completely.

Good point. As my vibrant, outgoing dad of 85 years starts to show signs of slipping, as much as it will hurt, I owe him his dignity.

LadyRN76

My grandfather died last August from prostate cancer that metastisized and he ended up stroking out and dying in 4 hours from the initial stroke. He made me promise him when we started the journey of the end that I would maintain his dignity and pride if something happened. I damn sure did everything I could to make sure his wishes were respected all the way up until he took his last breath.

Letting go of our loved ones is difficult - gut wrenching. My grandfather was more my father and it ripped my heart open, but I refused to not respect his wishes and let him die with dignity, in his own way.

Death is a part of life; when people begin to accept it and not be afraid - we will be able to help and support those we love more fully through that journey.

Joannah700

My Dad passed at 62 from cancer. He was a force, so dynamic - if he wasn't causing trouble and in the newspaper at least once a month growing up, we wanted to know if he was ok. It was fast, he was sick, did surgery and passed all within 6 months. My sisters and I were lucky to help him in his past months but he wanted to maintain his dignity and I know he struggled with us having to feed him and care for him. He hadn't wanted to do chemotherapy or the surgery at first, but we all wanted him to fight - because that was who he was.

My father's illness was a triggering event for my Mom and a slight memory problem quickly became evident that my Mom has alzheimers. It's been 3 years and my Mom, who loves me dearly and recognizes that she knows me - at times forgets my name or that I'm her daughter. Her memories are barely there and she can't take care of herself. Dementia and alzheimers effects everyone differently, but with my Mom - she has so much trouble relating to the world around her spatially. She can't distinguish items on a counter or how to open a drawer. She can't go to the ladies' on her own. She's 63 and healthy and will probably live for another 20.

My Mom, who is a sweet lady but shares the same slightly dark sense of humor of me and my sisters - when it first started she used to joke that if she got bad she would want us to go skydiving. If she can remember to pull the cord - great. If not, c'est la vie. With my Mom the way she is? I could never do that. But I also would not want to subject my family to 20 years of taking care of me and bringing me to a restroom.

If it happened to me, stick me in a facility and surround me with my favorite books and family videos. Visit twice a year and don't feel guilty.

Well that was a bit of a downer, I'm going to go look at the Friday gifs now...

Unknown

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rowlandsw

I've seen my grandma and great grandma lost to senility/alzheimer's and given i show their other mental health issues it terrifies me to think it could happen to me. What's worse is the doctors of this country preferring to make them suffer by stuffing them into warehouses (aka nursing homes) while continuing to make money off this. This is a big reason i have a poor opinion of doctors and their oath, it's called Hippocratic for a reason. My grandma and great grandma went fast, grandma was able to fool folks for a while but after 3 years she didn't remember any of us but suddenly at x-mas 2007 she randomly remembered my name. Mind you she died 2 months later right as it was time to put her into the home as assisted living couldn't handle her any more. My great grandma went on for nearly 25 years before dying at 100, not knowing who she was or what was going on for at least 23 of those years.

RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle

I think I heard this woman's son talk on CBC yesterday. He believes that it is inevitable that the laws will change eventually and I think he might be right. It's a beautiful story. I think she's a brave woman with strong convictions. I don't have a problem with her actions or her blog (which I haven't read). However, this is not a black and white issue.

I also understand why people take issue with her. She is an activist, and some people who work in the field of suicide prevention consider her blog detrimental and dangerous, among with a whole mess of other issues that can arise from this topic.

I can't believe I'm even writing about this here actually. Mental illness, suicide, euthanasia and abortion are slippery subjects. Each situation is very individual. Nothing is cut and dried. Some people's actions are significantly influenced by media. For some it's their perceptions of what is going on in the world, and for other's it's all internal. This woman planned to possibly kill herself more than 15 years ago I think. All these different situations may look identical to someone like me, observing from the outside.

We have strong opinions about these subjects, the strongest opinions seem to come from people who have experienced emotional trauma around these issues. I strongly believe that I never have the right to presume that I understand what it is like to be in someone else's shoes, even if my personal experience seems very similar to theirs'.

aethre

My grandma has a massive benign tumour. It was a foot across when she found it. It looked as though she was carrying twins a few weeks ago and it continues to grow.

She also has Alzheimers. She's okay, she's lucid, she knows who everybody is but conversations run in circles and she blurts things out a lot. And she's really scared. More scared of the Alzheimers than of the tumour.

The operation is next Friday. I don't know how to feel right now.