On Barbaro...

[MonkeyFunk]

Barbaro was "put down" today. Everybody, without exception, believes it was the right thing to do. Many of us were very sorry about it, but nobody doubted it was the merciful thing to do.

I've held a couple of dogs and more than a few cats in my lap as they were "put down". Each and every time, I thought it was a mercy.

But I've also held the hands of humans who were dying - suffering - crying. In pain. And I held those hands for days until "nature took it's course".

Yeah, I use a lot of quotes.

But why on God's great Earth should it be a mercy to euthanize a cat and a sin to do the same for a person?

[MadMaddie]

1. If the person is capable of making that decision and it's their

decision I have no problem with it.

Where the danger lies is others making that decision for them.

[MonkeyFunk]

3. If your grandmother

is incapable of speech, but obviously suffering, is it a sin to ease her passing?

Are you really worried about middle-aged women killing their husbands?

[Bjornsdotter]

5. My grandmother

...was euthanized. It was the best thing for her, she was in a coma on a morphine drip and still moaning in pain. It was the humane thing to do.

Cheers

[MonkeyFunk]

6. I'm sorry

you had to endure that.

[Bjornsdotter]

10. Thank-you

....it was a tough couple of years.

Cheers

[MadMaddie]

7. I don't believe it is a Sin to see her pass..

If I were making the decision for my grandmother in my heart of hearts, I know that it would not be malicious.

However; it's not me I worry about if the program is not tightly governed and strict rules followed, I think issues arise. I think abuses will could easily occur.

[LostInAnomie]

8. I am for euthanasia, but I would want to at least have some way of confirming...

... that those are the wishes of those being euthanized. To not have some form of expressed consent would possibly lead to abuse.

That's why it's important for people to have living wills.

[Liberal Veteran]

2. Because a very vocal minority has the crazy notion...

...that suffering brings one closer to God and ending suffering prematurely is thwarting the will of God.

I don't understand the way they think, but I disagree with them wholeheartedly.

[cynatnite]

4. I support legalized euthanasia...

with strict oversight by physicians and other qualified medical professionals.

[jody]

9. There's something sick and evil about a media and society that shows more interest in the

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro being euthanized than the latest bloody, horrible deaths of U.S. troops in Iraq.

[MonkeyFunk]

11. I don't think it's sick or evil

As a society, we "knew" Barbaro. We don't know, individually, every soldier who dies in Iraq.

This isn't a sign of our society's degradation. It's just the reality - millions of us saw Barbaro win the Kentucky Derby and then cripple himself in the Preakness.

The people who die in Iraq, while also mourned, aren't familiar to us.

The sorrow over one doesn't diminish the sorrow over the others.

[cynatnite]

14. I don't think it's a matter of more interest...

I think Barbaro captured people's hearts. Sometimes it's so hard to find good in the world and people will grab onto anything to have some hope. When that hope is taken away, even if it's in only a horse, people feel that loss still, but it doesn't make them less caring of the fact that people are dying.

If you noticed, Barbaro wasn't the only thing in the news. On NBC, he was the last story. The other cable news networks (I don't watch Faux so I can't say about them)they made time to talk about the war, the hearings, the debates, Katrina recovery and so on.

Oh, before I forget...over a million dollars was raised to help other horses because of Barbaro. I heard that on NBC.

[LWolf]

12. It shouldn't be.

The grief is the same, if not quite as personal for most, but the suffering is extended.

Having held some of my furry family members while they were euthanized, including a horse, I cried when I heard about Barbaro this morning.

I also once stood as the last line of defense for an elderly relative. She was 98, had a uterine tumor, and hadn't been out of bed for 15 years. She was cared for at home until the very end, when she needed care round the clock. We weren't in Oregon, and she wouldn't have chosen assisted suicide.

It had been more than a year since she was able to recognize family members. When I got a call from my mom, asking me to rush to the hospital where she'd been taken, I arrived to find her on a table, in a room by herself, crying and terrified. She didn't know me. When they tried to put her feet in stirrups, she screamed hysterically that they were trying to rape her. They wanted to do an exam, put her on chemo, and possibly do surgery.

We declined it all. She hadn't known her own name for way too long, but she sure as hell knew when she was scared, and when she felt violated. I stood in the way and refused to allow them to touch her until my mom showed up with power of attorney to take her home. I cried for her, then, too. She finally died 4 months shy of her 100th birthday. Staying alive was her choice, and we respected it. I sure wouldn't choose to spend my last 16 years of life like that, though.

When the things I value about life are gone, I'd like to go quickly and peacefully.

[MonkeyFunk]

15. Wow...

that's unimaginable.

Those of us who haven't had to make such decisions - or at least weigh-in on them - will probably have to do it some day.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[LWolf]

21. You'r e welcome.

My family knows exactly where I stand. I live in Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal. My sons will, if it should ever become necessary, defend my right to die with dignity. They love me, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

We should care for one another with the same compassion and respect we do for our non-human family.

[Divernan]

16. You have to be very aggressive in protecting elderly

family members from pointless (but very profitable) medical tests and treatments. Why test for cancer if the elderly patient would not survive anesthesia for surgery, and/or chemotherapy would not save them but only extend their lives for a few months, and being violently ill from the chemo. Make sure you get full medical power of attorney at the first sign of dementia, if you haven't gotten one before then. Many people execute Do Not Resuscitate orders for themselves while they are of sound mind. The problem is if the relative with medical Power of Attorney does not have the will and the strength to have that order followed. Hospice groups are a great resource for patients and families.

[pushycat]

13. Thanks for doing that for all those creatures. They deserved it.

People deserve it too. My mom suffered a lot from her cancer before she passed on. She did not complain about anything, though. A real brave person, imho.

[barb162]

17. I think hospice takes care of your question to a good extent

no feeding tubes, etc.

[Divernan]

20. But hospice still needs a DNR order signed by the patient, or if

the patient is non compos mentis, from someone with full medical power of attorney. You can download the forms for this from the internet - just get one following your state's law. They will give you a series of choices on which extreme medical measures you do NOT want to be taken.

[Divernan]

18. This is one of the most thoughtful and insightful OPs I've seen on DU

Thanks. It's a valuable insight to observe that we can do for our beloved pets what we cannot do for our parents and grandparents. Watching someone close to me become lost in the shadowy world of an Alzheimer's victim, and be constantly anxious, hysterical and afraid unless heavily medicated with anti-anxiety drugs - to the point that she's barely aware of her surroundings - well it's hell for her and it's hell for me. Billions of our tax dollars to destroy Iraq and kill hundreds of thousands - when it could have been spent for medical care and research.

[Beausoir]

22. Agreed. Very thoughful post. Thank you, OP.

[MonkeyFunk]

23. Thank you..

I, too, have seen a loved-one suffer far beyond what I would put a cat through.

I'm sorry you've experienced this.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

19. Hospice is a wonderful organization.

They are allowed to give patients with a terminal illness enough medication to keep them comfortable. Even though our society does not condone euthanasia, we are allowed to keep our loved ones comfortable and pain free. In doing so, many of these medications also depress the vital signs that keep us alive. Is this extreme pain control or a kinder word for euthanasia? And who is really to say?