Thanksgiving was a rather strange event this year, aside from the customary "uniqueness" of my family, this Thanksgiving dinner included an extra side of something quite gloomy and unnerving. While we each went around the table to say what we were thankful for the usual came up; family, friends, good times, good food, a place to live, etc. But we were all avoiding a very obvious and a very principal entity of which to be thankful, good health. We were all avoiding the topic because we knew not everyone at the table had good health. My uncle is in the process of going through chemotherapy for colon cancer. But after some pumpkin pie and champagne, the elephant standing in the corner decided to pull up a chair and join us.
My uncle is doing very well with his chemotherapy, but for some reason or other he started to discuss the issue of hospices. If you don't know what a hospice is, it's basically a place where people with a terminal illness go to spend their last days with the care of medical providers and volunteers whose main goal is to ensure the patients' comfort, a la pain medication. I recently lost a close uncle to cancer in March, and in his last days the family decided to place him in a hospice so he could be cared for properly. He was in a lot of pain and was not able to get out of bed. The doctors expected him to pass in the first 24 hours, he stayed there for the next eight days.
Those eight days were brutal. They were brutal on his wife, his daughter, his sisters and brother, everyone. Waiting for someone you love to die is the longest wait of your life. They aren't awake, they stop breathing at times, they're somewhere between life and death, it's not something anyone should have to go through. My argument here is not about hospices, I am thankful for the care that was provided for my uncle that my family could not provide. My argument here is about not having another option.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S., runner up to heart disease. For all of the families and friends of anyone going through something this painful I wish that there could be another option, and dare I even say that option could be euthanasia?
A national organization called Death With Dignity, and its Oregon chapter successfully passed the Oregon Death with Dignity Law in 1994, but resistance to the law delayed implementation until 1998 and then after in 2005. This law allows Oregonian patients with terminal illnesses to control their own end-of-life care, whether it be in a hospice or with a lethal medication prescribed by a physician. Between the years of 1998 and 2006, 292 Oregon patients have exercised their right to control their end-of-life care, and died under the terms of the law.
One argument against "assisted suicide," as euthanasia is often referred to, is that suicide is a sin in most religions. Another defense against euthanasia among the terminally ill is that "most terminal patients seek suicide not because they are ill, but because they are depressed," according to the National Right to Life organization.
OK, let's put this into perspective. You have been diagnosed with cancer, it's in the later stages and has spread so far that chemotherapy wouldn't even be an option. Although you are taking the pills for pain, they are not enough, and you can no longer eat or drink let alone get out of bed, your body is shutting down and dying. Why prolong your own and your family's pain? Personally, if I had the choice, I would sign up for the Oregon Death With Dignity. It's my life and I should be able to do with it as I please. I'm all for the fight, but when the fight's over, why not be able to have the last word?
Reach the reporter at: adprice4@asu.edu.
