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My Dad had IPF a lung disease and struggled near the end mainly due to isolation at home. My Mom and myself were there but he missed his social outings like fis

My Dad had IPF a lung disease and struggled near the end mainly due to isolation at home. My Mom and myself were there but he missed his social outings like fishing and bargain hunting. Even struggling with his oxygen generator he fished struggling through mud and getting waders off and on. He was great until blood clots caused more issues like taking morphine to calm smooth muscle to help him breathe. Morphine just that tiny pill caused terrible constipation (opioids are terrible). My point being Dad would take anything just to feel even slightly better it meant he was still here. Death is terrifying and as long as you can limp along whatever makes it better is something people want. Really at that point you try to get to a point where you may just die in your sleep not knowing you did.

rokkitmensch 3y ago
The "death is terrifying" social malady does have some FDA-unsanctioned treatments you might consider. Check in with your network's Elusinian priests for the traditional cautions.
- dghughes 3y ago
  Not sure what a network in medical context is but here in Canada there is the option of medical assistance in dying (MAID). Dad considered it but as a Catholic and just as a choice by anyone it was even more terrifying than just a natural death. You have to make the active choice and I think that is what scared him. Plus at the time I wasn't really seeing the anxiety he had he was good at masking it. He died in palliative care with assistance for any pain which was more mental than physical.
freedomben 3y ago
> opioids are terrible Why would you say something like this, especially given your dad's situation? yes they can cause constipation, but without opioids the pain would be much, much worse. To me it's a no-brainer, and nobody is forcing you to take opioids if you would rather the pain. I think opioids are a wonderful gift of nature to us and I'm immensely glad we have them. It terrifies me to think that we are so demonizing them now that they are withholding them from people who need them, and telling them to "take extra stength tylenol" instead. It's barbaric and cruel.
- alach11 3y ago
  To me it seems pretty clear that the parent is saying "opioid [side effects] are terrible" after seeing how much suffering they caused their father.
- dghughes 3y ago
  Sure if you take it out of context. >Morphine just that tiny pill caused terrible constipation (opioids are terrible)
  - freedomben 3y ago
    Fair enough, FWIW I wasn't trying to take it out of context. It seemed to me like a separate thread of thought being in the parens, but that's purely interpretive on my part. IMHO it would have been more clear to me your intention if you had said "(opioids are terrible for that)" or something similar. But that said I'm much too sensitive about the attacks on opiods because it's very much in the zeitgeist right now, and that would make me prone to defensiveness.

rokkitmensch 3y ago

The "death is terrifying" social malady does have some FDA-unsanctioned treatments you might consider. Check in with your network's Elusinian priests for the traditional cautions.

dghughes 3y ago
Not sure what a network in medical context is but here in Canada there is the option of medical assistance in dying (MAID). Dad considered it but as a Catholic and just as a choice by anyone it was even more terrifying than just a natural death. You have to make the active choice and I think that is what scared him. Plus at the time I wasn't really seeing the anxiety he had he was good at masking it. He died in palliative care with assistance for any pain which was more mental than physical.

freedomben 3y ago

> opioids are terrible Why would you say something like this, especially given your dad's situation? yes they can cause constipation, but without opioids the pain would be much, much worse. To me it's a no-brainer, and nobody is forcing you to take opioids if you would rather the pain. I think opioids are a wonderful gift of nature to us and I'm immensely glad we have them. It terrifies me to think that we are so demonizing them now that they are withholding them from people who need them, and telling them to "take extra stength tylenol" instead. It's barbaric and cruel.

alach11 3y ago
To me it seems pretty clear that the parent is saying "opioid [side effects] are terrible" after seeing how much suffering they caused their father.
dghughes 3y ago
Sure if you take it out of context. >Morphine just that tiny pill caused terrible constipation (opioids are terrible)
- freedomben 3y ago
  Fair enough, FWIW I wasn't trying to take it out of context. It seemed to me like a separate thread of thought being in the parens, but that's purely interpretive on my part. IMHO it would have been more clear to me your intention if you had said "(opioids are terrible for that)" or something similar. But that said I'm much too sensitive about the attacks on opiods because it's very much in the zeitgeist right now, and that would make me prone to defensiveness.