Right to Die Discussion

To add fuel to the fire... did anyone hear about the Bishop or Cardinal in San Diego who refused to allow a church to hold a funeral for a gay member of the parish and further refused to allow him to be buried in their cemetery. So much for love the sinner, hate the sin.

 

Re: Your thoughts on gay marriage?

I and my wife both think gays and lesbians should be be allowed to marry. Many of these fundamentalists also do not think I and my wife should be married, even though we are a male-female couple, because I upset their predfined scheme. I am transsexually-oriented and spend far more than half my life as a transwoman.

I always make sure my wife is well taken care of, and I spent a lot of energy getting her the new Prius. Neither our Toyota dealer nor our Prius cares in the least how I am dressed.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco\";p=\"74851)</div>

Doc:

Repeat after me: "Living Will."

It's shocking how many folks out there don't have something in writing to specify exactly what - or more importantly NOT - they want done in a critical medical emergency. The family doctor should also have a copy of this in the file too.

My folks set up their Living Wills back in 1990, with a few modifications over the years as some laws appeared to change. I also have a Living Will, and in my wallet I carry a bright red plastic card with large white letters:

D.N.R.

I suppose if that isn't enough to get the point across, I could always come back as a ghost and haunt them, right??

 

The DNR has some grey area as well. If you have a heart attack, you don't want them to bring you back? That's something you can fully recover from.

 

Re: Your thoughts on gay marriage?

It's my body and my choice: nobody else has any d*** business deciding when to plug me in. Don't worry, I'm also an Organ Donor too.

 

Living will & medical power of attorney: done.

It's particularly important to me, as I am not married to my partner; but any married couple should get this done -- if for no other reason than discussing these issues, and getting them out in the open.
[hr:8db1e88774]
My folks have just gone through the death of their last parent (my last grandparent) -- a process they have been through 4 times in the last 15 years.

One of the many, many reasons they are glad to live in Oregon is state legislation that enforces the wishes they put in their living will.

Every life is unique; as is every death. Think now on how you want the end of your life to play out.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco\";p=\"75027)</div>

Evan:

Well ... yes, I do mean that.

I have nothing but the highest respect for the medical profession, and I know you mean very well as a highly qualified ER doc, but in the end it's my choice.

I'm not basing this on any religious reasons, I just have a personal belief that I don't want any aggressive and forceful medical interventions done at all. I take very good care of myself, go in for routine checkups and lab work (A1c especially given my family history), and try to make prudent lifestyle choices.

If I do eventually become hypertensive and get Type II diabetes - as my family history probably guarantees that I will - then I'll put on a stiff upper lip and start chomping down vasotec, glyburide, and all sorts of nifty meds. I can't wait!

:roll:

So more than likely, I'll live to nice ripe old age as a cranky 'ole coot. As far as the cranky bit, I'm halfway there already. So it's not like I have a death wish or anything morbid, I'm just trying to take a pragmatic viewpoint on this.

As I stated, I'm also an Organ Donor, and when I inevitably croak (We all do eventually), after they get done harvesting all useful organs and tissues and whatnot, then the cold stinky corpse goes off to a medical school. So nothing goes to waste, so to speak.

Actually, I'm *very* impressed over how caring and compassionate we are as a PriusChat community. Too bad our society in whole can't be the same way.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bookrats\";p=\"75090)</div>

Jeff:

Have you got *that* right. I hope most folks out there aren't put off by this topic, as it may seem a bit morbid. But this should be SOP as we can't live forever.

Look at all the extra stress and bulls*** when nobody knows what to do upon a serious illness and then death.

"Geez, I do not know, did Jay want a funeral, a cremation?? Do we just toss him in the Dumpster?? He never did say, what an a** ..."

Might not be a bad idea for a new topic on this. Hinting Dr. Fusco??

 

Here's a question for our resident MD... if gays are not allowed to donate blood, how about donating organs? I know one of the stipulations for a male blood donor is that they have to check a box off saying that they have not had sex with another man since 1979 or something like that. It seems to follow that we would not be allowed to donate organs either. I find that blood donation stipulation a little archaic. I am HIV negative and have been in a monogamous relationship for 4 years. Why wouldn't they be able to take a blood donation from me?

 

Doc:

Thanks for the new thread!

As far as the issue of gay blood donors, since the blood is tested anyway, what's the big deal? I'm not Pro Gay or Anti Gay, just being pragmatic. As Evan mentioned, you really can't prove the "average" heterosexual has blood any "safer" than a homosexual who is HIV-.

Here's a hot potato: at what point should the State determine that further intervention is not only too costly, but ethically unwise?

I should define "State" as any government. We all have Socialized medicine to a certain extent, and the cost of extending medical care can become exotically expensive eg intubation, feeding, diagnostics, etc. This cost eventually is borne by taxpayers.

I ask as there have been some recent cases in Manitoba where the family wanted to continue intrusive medical care for an elderly Alzheimer patient, but the medical opinion was that further care would only prolong suffering.

It seems the issue has become polarized: people like me who say don't even shock a flat line, and those who want to continue life support until the body starts to decay. Either way, there are gut-wrenching emotions involved.

 

Evan:

I didn't know that ... have to think and reevaluate some of my preconceived notions about how HIV works.

That said, it seems to me that it wouldn't matter if you're dealing with a "dirty" gay or a woman who beds down 3-5 guys a week. HIV is all the same, isn't it?

 

That's me. Dirty, dirty, dirty.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pjo1966\";p=\"75151)</div>

I don't think Evan meant it *that* way. It was more of a general comment about the Donor Questionnaire. As he stated, it serves to perpetuate myths.

 

I know what he meant... I should have put a :wink:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pjo1966\";p=\"75153)</div>

Sorry!