Eight years ago my uncle was diagnosed with stage 4 throat, lung, and spine cancer. He began treatment immediately, but saw very little relief from the treatments. He spent four years in and out of hospitals and medical facilities for surgeries, therapies, and pain management. During this time he asked several doctors to end his pain and suffering and allow him to die peacefully before he was unable to make the decision. Each time he was told that it was illegal in the state of Georgia to offer such assistance, but hospice could keep him comfortable until the end.…
I have chosen Cancer as my favorite constellation because it is the sign I was born under. Latin for "crab", it is the dimmest of all the zodiac constellations and used to be the Sun's most northerly position in the sky. It is located in between Gemini (to its west) and Leo(to its east). It is best known among stargazers as home of Praesepe, an open cluster. Cancer is most well known in Greek mythology as the crab sent by the goddess Hera to help the hydra kill Heracles.…
His family and friends supported him by educating themselves and learning about his illness and how to deal with it. This had influenced him positively. I met this patient's mother in the healthcare symposium about…
He remained in his home until he was revisited by cancer at age 32. This time, his mind, body, and spirit had no more willpower to fight the cancer. Even the doctors gave up. His body began slowly deteriorating.…
Although he knows this disease will most likely be the cause of his death, he has found ways to cope. In the beginning months of his symptoms,…
Identification of Controversial Health-Related Issue Affecting a Vulnerable Population Across the United States, thousands of patients are diagnosed with a terminal illness and given a prognosis of less than six months to live. In 2015, it is projected by the American Cancer Society, that about 600,000 people will die from cancer (ACS, 2015). The term terminal illness refers to a disease, infection, or illness that is incurable resulting in death. Residents of California who are facing terminal diseases do not have the option to end their lives when they decide it is too painful to continue living. Treatments can cause unbearable painful and deteriorate the quality of life, and patients report they lose their sense of autonomy.…
Would you rather see someone you love, a significant other, relative, or friend suffer in pain until they pass? Or would you rather help them go at peace surrounded by family in a comfortable setting and know that they are at ease? The answer is obvious. There are so many families of patients with a terminal illness and they have to witness them go through months, possibly years of suffering. So why is it up to the government and the state to make these decisions for patients?…
The topic of death is never a pleasant subject to think about, but it is an essential topic to discuss and the ultimate destiny for every human being. Each year, millions of people with terminal illness face untold anguish and misery. In situations where there is no hope for recovery or quality of life, choosing to die rather than linger in agony is a noble personal choice many wish to make. Unfortunately, due to legal barriers and moral outcry from those not facing such a choice, those suffering are unable to make this decision and can sometimes face a long, protracted, and painful death even with the proper palliative care. To give terminal patients the right to self-determination, to prevent horrific suicides, and to prevent…
You’re aching with pain, completely out of energy from the cancer that is eating away and shutting down your organs, and just want it all to go away. Lying in the hospital hooked up on countless machines, the nurses and doctors coming in to investigate you while you’re attempting to get what little rest you can through the torment. What are your options? When we think about assisted death we all have uncertainties. When the doctors have provided for you no possibility of survival; and death is near, it’s simply a question of when will the pain end?…
As a person’s life is approaching its end under a hospital 's care they have the choice to control their pain and other symptoms. They also can receive religious, psychological, and social support. Because a person has the control over their pain, they have control over whether or not to take their medicine. The medicine they can choose whether or not to take can be sustaining their life so they essential are choosing life or death. If they chose not to take the medicine they would go through intense amounts of pain before they died.…
Medically speaking, his doctors were right when they said the cancer wouldn’t kill him, it was phenomena that did him…
This is the situation that a majority of those terminal patients find themselves in. In 2001, Kevin Drum’s father-in-law, Harry, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare and vicious cancer caused by rebel plasma cells. Harry lived in California during a time in which assisted suicide was not yet legal, and knowing how the last few months of his life would be spent, he chose to end his own life. “[...] he had watched all too many of his patients struggle with their final months, and this experience had persuaded him that he would take his own life if he found himself dying of an agonizing and clearly terminal illness.” (“My Right to Die” Drum, Kevin).…
A woman named Evelyn was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997. She immediately took aggressive action against the cancer, poisoning her body with various pills and radiation. All of these treatments left her body unresponsive and in constant pain (Woodward 23). Thankfully, there are organizations, such as the Compassion of Dying and Death with Dignity, that would help Evelyn end her life, if she chose, through physician assisted suicide. But, there are also groups that would prefer Evelyn to live through her cancer, and the pain.…
Despite being controversial, majority of people that choose to die assisted by physician are suffered from terminal diseases. Some supporters believe that people should have the right to choose what they want because of freewill. Others argue that it’s immoral to end people’s life in an unnatural way and it’s also bring…
The first year of treatment was going good, until they saw that the cancer wasn´t going away and was instead spreading further throughout his body, his healthy…