Tag

hospice

Oct 20
1

Disability activist slams right-to-die (RTD) law proposed in Minnesota

By | Right-to-Die Laws | 7 Comments

The Minnesota State House of Representatives and Senate are considering companion End-of-Life Option Act bills, and committee hearings have begun.  Since Minnesota is the state that will not permit even discussing end-of-life options among those who might want to decide the timing of their deaths with people who are experienced in how to achieve peaceful deaths on our own terms, it seems surprising that right-to-die (RTD) bills have been introduced in its legislature.  Nevertheless, opponents of the RTD are amping up their arguments against such legislation.

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Jun 10
0

DWD and disability–Part 2

By | Death With Dignity Act | 2 Comments

The idea suggested by some disability rights advocates, that most of us will be disabled in one way or another by the time we reach the end of our lives, has been borne out in my experience.  Virtually everyone I have known who has died has met, days or weeks or months before their deaths, the definition of disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. How can we assure that those who are disabled are not coerced into ending their lives too soon?

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Apr 15
3

When Something Has Happened We’d All Prefer Not: My Advance Directives In case of a Sudden Life Threatening Event

By | Advance Directives | 2 Comments

Timothy Boon, RN, is the CEO of Good Shepherd Community Care (GSCC) in Newton, MA. GSCC is an independent, community-based, not-for-profit, non-sectarian, hospice care agency, the first organized in Massachusetts 40 years ago. Recently, he wrote a poem in the style of Dr. Seuss, and recited it on video for ZDoggMD (otherwise known as Dr. Zubin Damania, Founder of Turntable Health, a direct primary care clinic in downtown Las Vegas). The poem is posted here by permission of the author. The video is posted courtesy of ZDoggMD.

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Feb 25
0

VSED and the “rage against the dying of the light”

By | VSED | 4 Comments

I learned that VSED doesn’t have to be a horrible way to hasten one’s death. With proper care, it can be done without pain or distress. The first two or three days are sometimes the most difficult because of hunger pangs and thirst. The hunger is easy to control if one has access to pain medication. The thirst can be ameliorated with proper oral care, such as judicious use of ice chips, rinses, and lubricating gels.

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Sep 11
4

A toast “to life” may include the wish for a peaceful death

By | Advance Directives, Death With Dignity Act, DNR, End-of-life care, Final Exit Network, Hospice | 2 Comments

Nearly everyone hopes for a peaceful death; yet such an end can be elusive. Many of us face both philosophical and practical questions as we do what we can to make our own deaths peaceful.

Some of us may have religious questions. Judaism, like many other religions, is all over the map in its thinking about ways to achieve a peaceful death.

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