OT LIfe's a bitch

"Charlie Choc" wrote in message
...

I hope I go quick when it's time.

I think that's probably the majority opinion. Personally, I've not yet made
up my mind about this going business at all. I'll keep ya'll posted.


Wolfgang

Sorry to hear that. A very close friend from college has some form of MS.
His cousin told me years ago he problem wouldn't make it past 30 he's now
33. I used to take him fishing. I would have to carry him on my back to the
pond or stream because he could not walk. I love the guy like a brother. It
has been awhile since I called him. I think I will tonight.
Thanks,
Kevin
"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...

"Mike" wrote in message
...
I know what you are talking about Ken lost my Dad to the cancer plus a
cousin
and a couple uncles....runs in the family i'm afraid.....i have blood
work
done
on a regular bases....


I watched a very dear friend die of cancer 15 or so years ago. I was at
his
bedside when he took his last labored breath. Jack was my best friend,
Jay's, father and a second father to me......hell he was a lot better than
my first....but that's another rant. Jack was a very ordinary man in
every
respect and we all....many of us loved him. Those few of you who have
stayed in the cabin we built together in Michigan's UP have seen his
picture
sitting on the mantle.

Anyway, I spent much of Jack's last couple of weeks in his company. He'd
gone from 250 pounds or thereabouts to little over a hundred in not much
more than a month. He was dazed and delirious, when conscious, much of
the
time despite (or maybe because of) his refusal to take the morphine that
sat
on the night stand beside his bed. It struck me at the time (and I still
think so now) that this was not a good way to die, but no worse or better
than any of the others I'd had any close contact with.

About a week ago I heard the tail end of a piece on public radio about a
group of oncology nurses who attended some sort of class or workshop or
something. At one point, they were apparently asked to fill out a
questionnaire of some sort. One of the questions asked them was how they
would like to die. Eighty percent stated that they would prefer cancer
above all other means of dying. There were a number of reasons given.
Most
of them revolved more or less around the idea that they like the notion of
having time to say goodbye and take care of whatever business needed to be
done. They also felt that with the medications available today the pain
could be adequately managed. I don't remember the other reasons.

Most of us probably see it somewhat differently than they did.

Wolfgang
funny world

"Mike Connor" wrote in message
...

"Wolfgang" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...

Wolfgang



Strange, what happens. I have seen quite a few people die, and that is
by
no means normal nowadays.

i am 62 years old. my father died at 30, in a barroom fight. my mother
died suddenly, simply falling to the ground, while walking beside my eldest
son. i have never seen anyone die, and i never wish to do so.

i wish we could all live forever. but that won't happen, will it. i
think my most earnest hope for the future is that i will die gracefully.

i think that to write this here is a mistake. but i believe that there
are some of us who need to know that a graceful death will be appreciated by
those who are still alive. it may give us strength.

"Wayne Harrison" wrote in message
m...

i am 62 years old. my father died at 30, in a barroom fight. my
mother
died suddenly, simply falling to the ground, while walking beside my
eldest
son. i have never seen anyone die, and i never wish to do so.

i wish we could all live forever. but that won't happen, will it. i
think my most earnest hope for the future is that i will die gracefully.


i think that to write this here is a mistake.

If ever ROFF wanted a motto.......

but i believe that there
are some of us who need to know that a graceful death will be appreciated
by
those who are still alive. it may give us strength.

No mistakes noted.

Wolfgang
odd, isn't it, that the one thing nobody really wants to talk about brings
out so much simple eloquence in so many?

"Mike Connor" wrote in message
...

.. . . it seems quite a few people take some time to die, as soon
as they actually start dying that is. In many cases, it seems to be
something that they more or less consciously decide to do, or some
mechanism
takes over from their normal "geist" or "Verstand"( spirit?, "grasp of
life"?).

Yep. Some need to be told that its OK, to "let go," to ride into it. Some
hang on as long as they can, like to wait until a particular friend/loved
one has arrived, and some see it coming and die terrified.

On a more upbeat note . . . it seems that if you are in a situation where
you figure you are a goner, a certain calm seems to take over and you seem
to think very clearly. To some extent you kind of move a bit out of your
body and start observing things from a place somewhat removed.

Also, sometimes great pain can liberate you from terror, given you don't go
too far into shock. If you can ride the pain you can almost feel powerful in
the sense that the pain might be more than you ever thought you could stay
concious thru. Then, later if the pain lessens, you can almost welcome its
presence as confirmation that you are still kicking.

All this said, I still consider morphine, hydrocodone etc to be welcome
wonder drugs.

Dave

My condolances.
Dave

"David Snedeker" wrote All this said, I still
consider morphine, hydrocodone etc to be welcome
wonder drugs.

Dave

i can dig it. 8 yrs ago. on the er table. the first ekg doesn't
show heart damage. pain beyond belief. begging finally produces demerol.
i lived. but had i died, i would still come back to haunt the bitch that
wouldn't give me the demerol.

yfitons
wayno

"Wayne Harrison" wrote in message
m...

i can dig it. 8 yrs ago. on the er table. the first ekg doesn't
show heart damage. pain beyond belief. begging finally produces demerol.
i lived. but had i died, i would still come back to haunt the bitch that
wouldn't give me the demerol.

Yeah. It seems we are doing a bit better with pain mgt these days, but still
have a ways to go, compared to the Euros, as I understand it. Another
consequence of our approach to the war on drugs me thinks.

Id been saving some hydrocodone for a rainy day. Last weekend, after a bunch
of mowing and a short hike or two, me and my kid went out to the coast
chasing steelhead on the Sol Duc and the Boggy. I bang the **** out of my
feet and really got my planer faciatus a ripping. Broke down that nite and
popped the pills. Oh sweet Jesus, what an incredible good night's sleep can
do for a body.

Dave

My condolences to you and your family.




"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
om...
and then you die.


http://www.legacy.com/Belleville/Leg...rsonId=2102693

My little sister's husband Tom, (funny how a 40-something woman is still
my
"little" sister), and my dad were both diagnosed with terminal cancer on
the
same day. How's that for stranger than fiction ? Dad died twelve days
later
and that was merciful compared to what Tom went through these last months.

Enjoy yourself, boyos, it's later than you think.

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 11:17:00 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

and then you die.

http://www.legacy.com/Belleville/Leg...rsonId=2102693

My little sister's husband Tom, (funny how a 40-something woman is still my
"little" sister), and my dad were both diagnosed with terminal cancer on the
same day. How's that for stranger than fiction ? Dad died twelve days later
and that was merciful compared to what Tom went through these last months.

Enjoy yourself, boyos, it's later than you think.


Condolences. It's not as bad to be the one who gets to watch and wait
as it is to be dying in pain, but it's damn awful.

My doctor and I were talking on one of my last two visits and decided
it'll be just great if I live quite a bit longer and then am hit hard
by a speeding truck. I added, "from behind." He was late for the
appointment because of being stuck at the hospital. I suspect it was
due to someone like your b-i-l, as he was in as down a mood as I've
ever seen.

I intend to enjoy all I can of life. We owe it to ourselves and maybe
to our loved ones, too. They can at least walk away from the grave
(or in my case, cremation memorial) saying, "...lived a good life."
--

rbc:vixen,Minnow Goddess,Willow Watcher,and all that sort of thing.
Often taunted by trout.
Only a fool would refuse to believe in luck. Only a damn fool would rely on it.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli