I’m incredibly grateful that medical aid in dying is an option and that one can have agency not only in how they live but also in how they die.
I had someone close to me opt for it. They were greatly suffering and had no chance of their condition getting better. Having a planned final date allowed us to say farewell and thank each other for all the great moment we shared without feeling ominous. The last phone call I had with them will stay with me forever.
show comments
hypeatei
I wasn't aware that Oregon had a "death with dignity" program for terminally ill people. It was enacted in 1997! Do other states have similar ones?
I'm a huge proponent for assisted suicide in general, even if you're not terminally ill. Regardless, these types of laws are a step in the right direction.
show comments
BrandoElFollito
I seriously wonder why a state (France in my case) preggers to have people jumping from buildings on into a train than to have them terminate their life peacefully.
I know that when I have Alzheimer or ALS out similar stuff I will commit suicide, quickly. I will have to prepare early to have some poison or jump into a train (something I would like to avoid to not traumatize the driver).
Why not simply helping me when this is what I want, in the name of who knows what.
show comments
blindgeek
I am the OP. Surprised to see this at the top of HN.
show comments
A_D_E_P_T
> "A few months ago, a friend sent me a link to a university doing clinical trials using stem cells to repair the heart. It seemed really promising. Unfortunately, they are in Germany, and they only accept German residents. So that wasn’t an option."
It's not that tough to gain German residency. There's even a "Freelancer Visa" that gives you a residence permit. If you pay an immigration consultant a few thousand bucks, and don't have a criminal history, it can be done rather quickly.
show comments
scottcha
Maybe I’m a statistical anomaly or maybe I just don’t know the baseline occurrence rate for this stuff but I have 3 close acquaintances two of which are this persons age or younger with similar symptoms (tachycardia, though to a lesser degree) going on. Is there data on the incidence rates for this stuff and has it been increasing since 2021?
show comments
j-krieger
> I’ve explained my reasons more fully to people who are close to me, but they basically boil down to the fact that an organ transplant requires a full commitment to the process, and I’m not willing to make that commitment.
I can't imagine being that indifferent to life. I would give all I could to live just one more day if I were in that position.
show comments
BXLE_1-1-BitIs1
Perhaps the question is how much misery are you willing to tolerate to prolong your life for how long?
Certain treatments take weeks to recover from while giving you months, years, even decades of life expectancy with good quality.
Other treatments of late stage terminal cancer only give you a few more weeks in the hospital.
show comments
jollyllama
I'm completely ignorant on this topic, but if the defibrillator was shocking him so frequently, but he has survived having it turned off, doesn't that imply the patient was being shocked far too frequently? I can't imagine that has a positive effect.
show comments
daedrdev
> Another slim possibility is a heart transplant. I am not interested. I’ve explained my reasons more fully to people who are close to me, but they basically boil down to the fact that an organ transplant requires a full commitment to the process, and I’m not willing to make that commitment.
Seems a little strange to not want to try to commit to the requirements for transplant and instead just die.
Perhaps they (arguably justifiably) fear the trauma that further interventions will bring.
show comments
gadders
I wonder if those implanted defibrillators would be more manageable if they gave you (say) a 15 or 30 second audible warning so you could prepare yourself?
show comments
sandworm101
I ran into a stat recently that gave me pause. Medical air in dying, what canadians call "MAID", is now a significant cause of death. It's roughly 1 in 20 of all canadian deaths. That is far higher than I would ever have expected.
I’m incredibly grateful that medical aid in dying is an option and that one can have agency not only in how they live but also in how they die.
I had someone close to me opt for it. They were greatly suffering and had no chance of their condition getting better. Having a planned final date allowed us to say farewell and thank each other for all the great moment we shared without feeling ominous. The last phone call I had with them will stay with me forever.
I wasn't aware that Oregon had a "death with dignity" program for terminally ill people. It was enacted in 1997! Do other states have similar ones?
I'm a huge proponent for assisted suicide in general, even if you're not terminally ill. Regardless, these types of laws are a step in the right direction.
I seriously wonder why a state (France in my case) preggers to have people jumping from buildings on into a train than to have them terminate their life peacefully.
I know that when I have Alzheimer or ALS out similar stuff I will commit suicide, quickly. I will have to prepare early to have some poison or jump into a train (something I would like to avoid to not traumatize the driver).
Why not simply helping me when this is what I want, in the name of who knows what.
I am the OP. Surprised to see this at the top of HN.
> "A few months ago, a friend sent me a link to a university doing clinical trials using stem cells to repair the heart. It seemed really promising. Unfortunately, they are in Germany, and they only accept German residents. So that wasn’t an option."
It's not that tough to gain German residency. There's even a "Freelancer Visa" that gives you a residence permit. If you pay an immigration consultant a few thousand bucks, and don't have a criminal history, it can be done rather quickly.
Maybe I’m a statistical anomaly or maybe I just don’t know the baseline occurrence rate for this stuff but I have 3 close acquaintances two of which are this persons age or younger with similar symptoms (tachycardia, though to a lesser degree) going on. Is there data on the incidence rates for this stuff and has it been increasing since 2021?
> I’ve explained my reasons more fully to people who are close to me, but they basically boil down to the fact that an organ transplant requires a full commitment to the process, and I’m not willing to make that commitment.
I can't imagine being that indifferent to life. I would give all I could to live just one more day if I were in that position.
Perhaps the question is how much misery are you willing to tolerate to prolong your life for how long?
Certain treatments take weeks to recover from while giving you months, years, even decades of life expectancy with good quality.
Other treatments of late stage terminal cancer only give you a few more weeks in the hospital.
I'm completely ignorant on this topic, but if the defibrillator was shocking him so frequently, but he has survived having it turned off, doesn't that imply the patient was being shocked far too frequently? I can't imagine that has a positive effect.
> Another slim possibility is a heart transplant. I am not interested. I’ve explained my reasons more fully to people who are close to me, but they basically boil down to the fact that an organ transplant requires a full commitment to the process, and I’m not willing to make that commitment.
Seems a little strange to not want to try to commit to the requirements for transplant and instead just die.
Perhaps they (arguably justifiably) fear the trauma that further interventions will bring.
I wonder if those implanted defibrillators would be more manageable if they gave you (say) a 15 or 30 second audible warning so you could prepare yourself?
I ran into a stat recently that gave me pause. Medical air in dying, what canadians call "MAID", is now a significant cause of death. It's roughly 1 in 20 of all canadian deaths. That is far higher than I would ever have expected.
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications...
>>> In 2022, there were 13,241 MAID provisions reported in Canada, accounting for 4.1% of all deaths in Canada.
it's terrifying to me all the medical cases that cannot be adequately treated with the current state of medicine.