3 ms·
> We think we are being kind but it's the kindness of talking someone into jumping off a cliff instead of trying to climb back down. > > If you want your family
by dtgriscom 5y ago
> We think we are being kind but it's the kindness of talking someone into jumping off a cliff instead of trying to climb back down.
>
> If you want your family members to have the best chance of coming home, tell them that you are not ready for them to go and that you still need them.
This omits important context.
Many of these people are suffering, and will continue to suffer as long as they live. Dementia, cancer, stroke, COPD, intubation. Even though "you still need them", keeping them alive through the miracle of modern medicine may be the wrong thing to do.
I hope, when I'm ready to go, that my family follows my wishes and does not push invasive and ultimately futile interventions on me.
- pbhjpbhj 5y agoMy elderly mother has deteriorated to be entirely dependent on carers and bed-bound, I wish we could be merciful and let her die but UK law (apparently) requires she either be starved to death - which the medics have told us is a painful, horrible death - or be kept alive, with every intervention below surgery. It's vile. She let go, they installed a feeding tube and ensured she couldn't die with what little dignity remained at the time. She came back, in body, but rapidly lost what little of her self that remained. But now she lies in bed her life forcibly extended each day; completely devoid of a life, and hopefully devoid of cognition. Frankly, it is inhumane.