tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post5130304107774618737..comments2023-05-24T23:33:57.516+10:00Comments on My Unwelcome Stranger: Legally assisted suicideDenis Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-46739429984855158262013-10-16T00:28:56.040+11:002013-10-16T00:28:56.040+11:00Good points looking from the wife’s point of view ...Good points looking from the wife’s point of view and reactions to her acceptance. There will always be critics no matter what. <br /><br />You were right in the interests of accuracy to raise the point about the brevity of the timing. Tracey raised it too. There were two potions. To keep it simple I didn't mention the first which was about an hour before the one I referred to in the story. I mentioned only the second. Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-79475758002667744712013-10-16T00:16:04.741+11:002013-10-16T00:16:04.741+11:00I don't believe in right and wrong in these ci...I don't believe in right and wrong in these circumstances but I agree with you. What I'm concerned about are the other parties affected by the decision and what I feel strongly is the need for the feelings of the terminally ill person and those directly affected to be considered by them all in the decision. Ultimately it must be the person’s decision but I'd hope they’d take into account more than their own views. Again, I'll come back to this next time.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-88962543132590775802013-10-15T23:55:11.051+11:002013-10-15T23:55:11.051+11:00Anne: you raised a number of issues that I have on...Anne: you raised a number of issues that I have on the agenda for the next part, concerning doctors and seeing it from their point of view, which is something not always thought about. Their reactions vary enormously. I’ll save it till then but I'm not surprised it was you who raised these.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-62565084088211384512013-10-13T22:29:56.971+11:002013-10-13T22:29:56.971+11:00A sensitive story handled well by both SBS and you...A sensitive story handled well by both SBS and your post. I think they were both very brave, and agree it must all have been very strange and difficult for the wife. Not least as well with the sort of comments/questions/subtle criticism she might face from friends and family and colleagues back home.<br />I was surprised how quick the process seemed from reading this - don't know what else I expected though.Jackie Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06322613989851869319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-29374106830151691992013-10-13T14:20:58.440+11:002013-10-13T14:20:58.440+11:00I have no idea about this situation and what is ri...I have no idea about this situation and what is right and what is wrong. Among the hardest dilemmas and, like most of them, something that should be entirely within the right of each individual to decide, I think.zmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-2308386324325967902013-10-13T10:00:32.021+11:002013-10-13T10:00:32.021+11:00Another beautiful post, Denis, highlighting the fa...Another beautiful post, Denis, highlighting the fact that all of our decisions create ripples. I have heard quite a number of people who suggest this decision should, sometimes, as it was done in the past, be left to doctors who would juggle pain relief and the risk or probability of death. I do not think they should be left with their personal ripples either. Thank you for your insights. Anne P.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-28597826915733154392013-10-12T10:31:03.796+11:002013-10-12T10:31:03.796+11:00That's fine. I understood you were mulling it ...That's fine. I understood you were mulling it over.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-44311644392876729942013-10-12T09:38:09.194+11:002013-10-12T09:38:09.194+11:00Yes, I understood that Denis. I agreed with what y...Yes, I understood that Denis. I agreed with what you wrote, and was not criticising, more just 'discussing with myself' why it is that we (myself included) seem to place more emphasis upon the effect upon the survivor than the wishes of the deceased. <br /><br />And also it was way too early in the a.m. for me to attempt the philosophical :)<br /><br />kvdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-52562233010549488862013-10-12T09:02:09.516+11:002013-10-12T09:02:09.516+11:00I'm sure she'd be happy for him - both of ...I'm sure she'd be happy for him - both of them I hope - that his suffering was over. It's certainly what I'd want. <br /><br />The program was on SBS a couple of months ago. I don't know if they could supply details. I t was handled very well.<br /><br />Thanks, Dave.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-35681570222570653762013-10-12T08:50:00.884+11:002013-10-12T08:50:00.884+11:00The reason I dismissed the husband’s death in a se...The reason I dismissed the husband’s death in a sentence was that he was able to have his wish fulfilled and his part in the proceedings thus ended. But the wife would be the one to deal with living following his death. I was musing on how strange it would feel to be taking part in the experience. So often the focus is on the person who is dying. <br /><br />As I said, I would hope she could now make for herself whatever life she chose, as quickly as possible after the process of grieving was dealt with. <br /><br />I was not disapproving of his decision to get it over with if he had insufficient quality of life to want to keep going. I was trying to put myself in the place of a living, loving person who’d gone in the door with a live partner and left shortly after with one who was dead as the result of a calculated decision.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-22682390150718269872013-10-12T08:17:09.135+11:002013-10-12T08:17:09.135+11:00For the person who is terminally ill, at least, I ...For the person who is terminally ill, at least, I agree with you as to timing and manner of death. The reason why this is denied in Australia seems to me to be that the small, rather quiet [I find] but highly influential minority who carry the day have an unshakable belief in the utter sanctity of life under all circumstances and ignore the fact that doctors have a legal responsibility to follow this through no matter how much torture they put those people through who have not made their wishes known with a legally valid end-of-life document.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-26400637574686912352013-10-12T08:10:33.467+11:002013-10-12T08:10:33.467+11:00The wife did not cry but I did and I'm sure sh...The wife did not cry but I did and I'm sure she did later.<br /><br />What a gift to the world this TV program was (when? where?) and so too this post. It is a moment in life that we struggle to imagine accurately and to dwell upon.David Strattonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07108095795511002148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-26824529986960925642013-10-12T06:22:56.322+11:002013-10-12T06:22:56.322+11:00A first reaction (and I will spend more time refle...A first reaction (and I will spend more time reflecting upon it, as I have now for years) is that in Denis' telling of it, he describes the husband's experience of death in just one sentence, then writes several paragraphs musing on the wife's state. This is very natural, and is perhaps exactly why there is so much angst about the subject?<br /><br />And on the euthanasia/assisted death 'demarcation' that Denis suggests, I support both, but confess to far less apprehension about having to do the former than witnessing the latter. This is just a personal view, but something I have contemplated from time to time.<br /><br />kvdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-36439016867048133812013-10-11T23:18:40.667+11:002013-10-11T23:18:40.667+11:00Thank you for this thoughtful and strangely comfor...Thank you for this thoughtful and strangely comforting post, Denis. I know that personally, I would enjoy the closing years of my life much more if I could choose when to bring it to a close. To die peacefully and with dignity, having said farewell to those around me, like the man in your story. Many would like to choose the time and manner of their dying, others would not. It should, however, be a matter of individual choice; a choice currently denied to the silent majority - for reasons that elude me - by a noisy minority. Bobnoreply@blogger.com