Serious question to those (a long list) that are more devout than I.

 

Is part of God's work giving us the freedom to make such a decision?

 

Like CWB I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "God's work," but I can give my input. God gives us free will because He loves us. Without free will we would not have the choice to love Him back or to turn away from Him. Whichever one of these choices we choose becomes the sole purpose of our lives: To love God with everything He has given us or to throw it all away becoming our own self.

 

So, I guess yes, to answer your question.

 

The more I think about it, the less I can justify this woman's suicide. I am aware that she is suffering but suicide is objectively wrong, and there is no such thing as "situational morality." It is obviously difficult and not the answer everybody wants to hear but I believe its true. We [Catholics] do believe life is sacred from conception to natural death, right?

 

But in the end it is not up to you or me to decide what is right or wrong. That would be our Creator's job.

On a similar note, I cannot recommend this movie enough:

 

How to Die in Oregon

 

[video=youtube;_F-525sCzhE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F-525sCzhE

 

After your post, I watched this online. Absolutely amazing. Cody was a strong woman, I couldn't imagine having a camera following me around while suffering the way she did.

I really felt bad for the poorer man who they wouldn't pay for his chemo, but would pay for the drug that would kill him. I was glad to see that they ended up changing their ruling on that.

My thing is, what if six months turns into a year? Two years? I want as much time as possible doing the things I want to do with the people I want to do them with. I'm not cutting that short. I'm holding on to every ounce of possibility that I can.

 

End of life care is exponentially more expensive than anything else. The reality of the situation for her might be that she's not going to drain the resources of her and her family, her family isn't going to have to see her suffer and go through that, and she's going to be able to do things on her own terms.

 

As someone who has a living will in place, I've thought a lot about quality of life, etc. and while I wouldn't say I would do the same as she is (because I don't even know tons of specifics about the situation), I can't really say I blame her or anything either.

First of all, I'm a lady.

 

Second, after it was pointed out to me, I was embarassed. I'd have been horrified to be scrolling through and see the title of the thread I created without the quotations lol.

 

FTFY

End of life care is exponentially more expensive than anything else. The reality of the situation for her might be that she's not going to drain the resources of her and her family, her family isn't going to have to see her suffer and go through that, and she's going to be able to do things on her own terms.

 

As someone who has a living will in place, I've thought a lot about quality of life, etc. and while I wouldn't say I would do the same as she is (because I don't even know tons of specifics about the situation), I can't really say I blame her or anything either.

 

I don't necessarily "blame" her for what she wants to do. I understand the line of thinking. But it is 100% suicide, and I just don't see any way I would do that, even in her position.

After watching both of my parents die from cancer, I can honestly say that if one of them had wanted to end their life, I would not have stood in their way. I would not wish that pain and suffering on my worst enemy.

My dad suffered horribly, and only for a relatively short time before he died. He didn't want to die, and fought like crazy, doing everything the doctors suggested. He underwent 15 radiation treatments in 20 days. It literally burned him inside and out. He did that so he could get to the point of being able to take chemo. The reason he fought was to be able to go home to die. But only a couple of days after his last radiation treatment, he went downhill so fast, and he was in so much pain he wasn't even lucid. He ultimately died in a rehab center, which was NOT where he wanted to die. I watched that all unfold and I made my decision then that I would never put my kids through the pain of watching me die. I can't say I'd choose suicide. But I can say that I will not undergo extreme measures if the prognosis is that I'll only gain a few months. I just won't put them through it. Better for all of us if we spend what time we have together without the added strain of false hopes and the eventual financial burden. I admire my dad for the courage he had in choosing his way. I can only hope that my children and family respect my choice when the time comes.

FTFY

 

I'm completely unhip on the lingo here because I have no idea what that means lol

A beautiful response to Brittany from another lady that is dying.

 

Dear Brittany: Why We Don?t Have To Be So Afraid of Dying & Suffering that We Choose Suicide | A Holy Experience

A beautiful response to Brittany from another lady that is dying.

 

Dear Brittany: Why We Don?t Have To Be So Afraid of Dying & Suffering that We Choose Suicide | A Holy Experience

That's a nice article and I commend Kara for choosing to fight to the very end. But, I simply cannot understand the position where you feel the need to tell someone, a complete stranger at that, how they need to choose to face such a terrible and difficult decision.

That's a nice article and I commend Kara for choosing to fight to the very end. But, I simply cannot understand the position where you feel the need to tell someone, a complete stranger at that, how they need to choose to face such a terrible and difficult decision.

It's actually quite simple. Christ instructs us to share His love for everyone with others.

It's actually quite simple. Christ instructs us to share His love for everyone with others.

I just don't believe that it's my position to instruct someone how to handle that decision. I feel that we as a country --- not governed by religion --- should afford people the right to die with dignity if that is what they choose.

I don't necessarily "blame" her for what she wants to do. I understand the line of thinking. But it is 100% suicide, and I just don't see any way I would do that, even in her position.

 

I understand that line of thinking. It's a really complex issue. I am probably more lenient on it being acceptable and/or something that should be left in that individual and their doctor's hands. I have a living will with advance directives dictating how long I can be on a ventilator, who gets power of attorney over me to make the decision, etc. Not being all morbid, it's just something I did while taking a medical ethics class in undergrad (around the Schiavo time we had an assignment where one of the options was to prepare a fictious living will (or, if you were like me and wanted to, you could do one for yourself and get it notarized, etc. later). For me, it's peace of mind knowing that if something happened and I was, for instance, in a situation where someone had to "pull the plug", then it's not really going to be a decision that they have to worry about like they might have otherwise.

I'm completely unhip on the lingo here because I have no idea what that means lol

 

Fixed That For You (thread title)

Fixed That For You (thread title)

 

Thanks. I think I have some family members and friends on here who got a bit scared ha.