I agree with you entirely except: 1. Most people are idiots or rather they're completely uneducated about anything having to do with their health.
2. Good information is hard to find even if you are somewhat savvy. 3. Almost nobody has these discussions in advance. For example I've got a pretty good handle on how my folks feel, my mom is a death and dying nurse in a veterans nursing home so we've had some pretty candid conversations. My wife's folks though have provided us pretty much zero idea and while they don't refuse to talk about it they slide around like they're greased. My wife is working on a plan to pin them down but its taken a ton of effort on her part. Even if the guidelines I mentioned before weren't for doctors to stop providing care it would be helpful for families when accessing how far they should go. Ahh, another for instance, my grandmother had her hip replaced 10 years ago when she was 83, came through with flying colors. Last year she was complaining about her knees, wanted them replaced too. The doctor told her no, that at 92 it didn't make any sense and she's going to have to get used to some knee pain. We like that Doc... -Curt Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2013 21:06:16 -0400 From: "Scott Ritchey" <ritche...@nc.rr.com> To: "'Mercedes Discussion List'" <mercedes@okiebenz.com> Subject: Re: [MBZ] Treating cancer Message-ID: <8E278DAFC4684E3681AA0A642B87F0B2@ScottPC> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Clearly, there is a point where the quality of life (or absence thereof) is such that death is preferable to being a specimen for the medical establishment to practice on. I've been down that road with pets and family members (both parents, for example). But who gets to decide when your life isn't worth living? Family doctor? A committee in DC? Next of Kin? Arbitrary age limits? The patient? Frankly, I believe most patients and families would make the best decision provided they had good information and had considered such issues seriously long before any decision is needed. -----Original Message----- From: Mercedes [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On Behalf Of Curt Raymond Sent: Friday, August 02, 2013 5:04 PM To: Diesel List Subject: Re: [MBZ] Treating cancer If you're 90 years old and confined to your bed barely awake I'm saying we shouldn't treat you for anything other than pain. We dope you to the point where you don't hurt and we let nature take its course. Theres no point in treating the cancer or heart disease or whatever if your life sucks. -Curt _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
