tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post6960009861122339273..comments2024-03-17T08:27:53.658-05:00Comments on Stonekettle Station: Decisions and RegretJim Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comBlogger269125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-75105366002720996612016-05-08T14:31:36.896-05:002016-05-08T14:31:36.896-05:00Forgot to include the link, so here it is:
http:/...Forgot to include the link, so here it is:<br /><br />http://www.iflscience.com/brain/biotech-company-use-stem-cells-reactivate-brains-deadAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410342370437560351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-74818743334179402702016-05-08T14:31:02.561-05:002016-05-08T14:31:02.561-05:00Jim, I realize I'm commenting on a post that i...Jim, I realize I'm commenting on a post that is over two years old. The introduction to this essay came to mind when I read that approval has been given to attempt to use stem cells to "reanimate" or "resurrect" people who have been determined to be clinically dead. I came searching for this post in order to find the title and author mentioned in the intro. <br /><br />I don't know if I'm able to or permitted to share links here, but I'm going to try, in case you or any of your other readers might want to take a look at just one variation of "can you imagine" or "what if."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410342370437560351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-31530599950188859312016-05-08T14:15:15.804-05:002016-05-08T14:15:15.804-05:00South Jersey Doc-
The medical professionals that ...South Jersey Doc-<br /><br />The medical professionals that I know and work with (in Texas) are not usually the problem; not by a long shot. I take care of many patients who have out-of-hospital DNRs that aren't disputed by inpatient doctors. However, I take care of many, many, many more miserable souls trapped in bodies that have long ago betrayed them-bodies ridden with bed sores and tubes and immobile joints, full of unimaginable pain, no longer capable of any sort of self-determination. These poor souls remain trapped because their families refuse to let go, for whatever (almost always selfish) reason.<br /><br />My colleagues and I pride ourselves on being helpful, professional and utterly respectful. To accuse us all, wholesale, of anything else is...well, it's just not fair. If you ended up as my patient here in Texas, my foremost responsibility would be to advocate for you and for your family. I must also do the same for those patients whose families make decisions with which I personally disagree.<br /><br />If you look like you're going to kick the bucket "in some unfortunate place," your living will may very well be the thing that forces your doctor to employ heroic lifesaving measures upon you to keep you alive long enough to get you "shipped back home." Your logic for changing your will could inadvertently result in the very thing you think you are avoiding. If you have a living will that very clearly lays out your final wishes, there is not really a need to burden your family with any final decision-making. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410342370437560351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-56733565777635804832015-04-19T08:17:22.710-05:002015-04-19T08:17:22.710-05:00I realize this is over a year later, and quite pos...I realize this is over a year later, and quite possibly no one will even see it - but I have to call BS on this LIE ("feeding the poor is your job, not the government's.").<br /><br />People howl against government as if it is some outside entity forced on us all. I guess no one paid attention in class during their American History studies, particularly the time of the American Revolution - the birth of our nation. What we have is a REPRESENTATIVE government: people that WE hired (by voting for them) to take care of the general community issues that come up. We pay TAXES in order to make sure they have the funds to carry these initiatives out. Part of their duty is SERVING the needs of their communities - and that would include ALL of the members of that community, not just the rich ones! So, when the government provides food and other services to those most in need, they are doing it in OUR name!<br /><br />And if you want to come back with the argument that YOU didn't vote these people in because your guy didn't win, or you didn't vote at all: it doesn't matter if your guy lost - the majority in your district spoke and you have to abide by the majority decision. That's how a representative democracy works. And if you didn't bother voting at all - you get no say in the matter, you abdicated the right to bitch by not participating!Debnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-43687909838139995862015-04-19T06:40:05.743-05:002015-04-19T06:40:05.743-05:00I discovered this article after reading a recent p...I discovered this article after reading a recent post on your facebook page (re: Jeb Bush, April 17, 2015). Having discovered Stonekettle Station after learning about your facebook page from a mutual friend, I never cease to be amazed that your writings so closely mirror my own thoughts. This particular item, however, was like a kick in my stomach. My son and I had to make the decision to take my husband off life support 12 years ago. He was 54 at the time and had left no written directive. Having to admit that he wasn't going to get better and the fact that he was unable to communicate with us even though he was conscious, making the decision to take away mechanical life support was the most painful experience I've ever had. To have had a stranger's decision forced on us at the time would have been the twisting of the knife I already felt in my heart.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03317358508550299856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-13450001596162370302015-03-02T22:04:21.721-06:002015-03-02T22:04:21.721-06:00Jim,
I am one of your newbie Facebook friends, B...Jim, <br /><br />I am one of your newbie Facebook friends, Bill Shelton the Brown Shoe, and have been catching up on some of your earlier work. To keep this short, I can say that the first comment on this essay by Tom Doyle says nearly everything I want to say. <br /><br />However, background:<br />I went through this with my Mother in 2013. Fortunately, she had been very specific about what care she wanted in her final hours and she remained intermittently cogent until near the end. It was really difficult for me. When she could not, I had to stand up for her right to determine when enough was, indeed, enough. She was 95 years old with a death sentence of peritonitis due to a perforated colon. Systems were shutting down and she was not physically strong enough to combat the infection. Invasive procedures to prolong the immediately inevitable were available and I had to say "enough" for my Mom.<br /><br />What I want to add to Tom Doyle's comment:<br />How is it possible to knowingly, willfully, approve and order the actions that will - with certainty - end your Mother's life? Intellectually, I could justify compliance with her wishes, but, emotionally, I could not forgive myself for doing so.<br /><br />Until now. Until I read this essay, your powerful, passionate, eloquent, insightful essay.<br /><br />Thanks to you, Chief Warrant Officer Wright, I finally understand that as painful as it is, I got it right. I got it right for her and that makes it right for me. And I think I can deal with it now.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00799612733677956636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-59921671413799500722015-02-20T17:04:53.066-06:002015-02-20T17:04:53.066-06:00My best friends father was a career Army MD, 2 Sil...My best friends father was a career Army MD, 2 Silver stars in Europe; late in life he had a tattoo on his chest in red right over his heart; a circle with a diagonal line thru it. TThe international symbol for NO. I want one for myself but the tattooist won't do it because I have hepatitis C and blood splatter would ruin his expensive gun. But I do love the idea of it.<br /><br />whitelillyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-84149463647906465732015-02-20T01:13:13.274-06:002015-02-20T01:13:13.274-06:00I'm very sorry, but you're mistaken, dear ...I'm very sorry, but you're mistaken, dear Mr. Wright. Not the IXian's, but the Bene Theilax, the Theilaxu. And not genetically modified, just brain dead -- on purpose. Kitten99https://www.blogger.com/profile/03724363655604351069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-3444871895340744762015-02-19T22:03:02.719-06:002015-02-19T22:03:02.719-06:00I am amazed at your capacity to capture the idiocy...I am amazed at your capacity to capture the idiocy and evil that permeates our political system (in rant language I wish I could emulate!) and at your deep understanding of what underlies the need to defend reproductive rights - a cause I have been involved in for over 30 years Thank you for keeping the trolls off your site so there can be intelligent exchanges. If you know a way to cross-post to rhrealitycheck.org please do it (I am - alas! - too inept) but your voice on this topic would be welcome there.<br /><br />Anne GavinAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-38418050087038012452015-02-17T17:07:18.038-06:002015-02-17T17:07:18.038-06:00Just found this...thank you.
We were so much lu...Just found this...thank you. <br /><br />We were so much luckier than many. We didn't have to make the decision. Our beloved Mother did. All the four of us had to do was obey our Mommy one last time.<br /><br />Oregon. Where hospice workers are pit bulls on behalf of their patients, and the rights of patients are respected.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-3001051025060366252015-02-17T16:24:08.656-06:002015-02-17T16:24:08.656-06:00Darkness
Imprisoning Me
All That I See
Absolute H...Darkness<br /><br />Imprisoning Me<br />All That I See<br />Absolute Horror<br />I Cannot Live<br />I Cannot Die<br />Trapped in Myself<br />Body My Holding Cell<br /><br />Metallica, OneRINOVirushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12137107425654653438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-44382064700227929882014-02-24T09:33:02.819-06:002014-02-24T09:33:02.819-06:00I am both extremely-religious/Catholic (and a mino...I am both extremely-religious/Catholic (and a minor-league [only a master's degree] theologian) and a Texan, but I am most assuredly NOT a high-functioning schizophrenic, and I completely agree with Jim's thoughts. Not only does my Directive to Physicians specifically exclude hooking me up to a ventilator--been on one; don't want to go back--but it also specifically excludes nutrition/hydration and specifies only opiates if needed for pain control. The madness currently prevailing here makes me extremely glad that I 1) am 60 and 2) no longer have a uterus.<br /><br />Catholics are not, in fact, required to accept the use of "extraordinary means" in medical treatments: The loophole here is the use of the word "natural" in "natural conception until natural death." A further loophole, and what allowed me to become a Catholic almost 31 years ago, is that the Church teaches that fidelity to conscience is a higher law even than the law of the Church, so that--if one dissents from a Church teaching as a matter of conscience--one is obliged to follow one's conscience rather than Church law.<br /><br />My heart aches for the Munoz and McMath families; additionally, I cannot even begin to comprehend the outpouring of "screaming, illiterate, hate filled religious bile," which seems to me to be antithetical to the command of Jesus to "love one another as I have loved you."<br /><br />Beyond all that, John Varley is one of my favorite authors, and I think about "Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo" pretty often as I ponder some of life's harder decisions.<br /><br />I don't have any of the accounts listed for posting (I first encountered Stonekettle Station on Facebook and am now a committed reader of everything Jim posts), so I am posting this as "Anonymous" but signing my name.<br /><br />Virginia Galloway<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-45394115470907655732014-02-16T11:24:06.762-06:002014-02-16T11:24:06.762-06:00Thank you.Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-23602821348857179782014-02-10T09:45:34.561-06:002014-02-10T09:45:34.561-06:00Jim, I've read through your archives, and this...Jim, I've read through your archives, and this is one of the most <br />thought-provoking, poignant and intelligent assessments of this subject <br />matter I've ever read. The thought of keeping what is essentially a <br />corpse alive to serve as an incubator makes my skin crawl. I intend to <br />share this with everyone I can think of, especially my kids, who may <br />be faced with such a choice one day. Thanks for sharing your critical<br />thinking skills with the rest of us!<br />laurieephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12790268737604530901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-48177228170277967182014-02-08T08:14:55.930-06:002014-02-08T08:14:55.930-06:00I had the great gift of being with my dad as he wa...I had the great gift of being with my dad as he was dying in a hospital. His other daughter had the power of attorney and refused to move him into hospice and so he died in a hospital with only me around. I had no say in the matter and, in fact, the doctor wouldn't talk to me. Whatever oath he took to practice his profession didn't include compassion for a family member lost in worry about how to help her dad. <br /><br />I turned to the hospice people in town for guidance on what to look for, how to speak around my dad, what to do for him, and how to handle myself. For six days and nights, except for a quick trip home for a shower and some clean clothes, I stayed in his room. <br /><br />At first in the long nights, when his quiet breathing during sleep would suddenly sound startled, stressed and raggedy, I'd get up from the cot nearby and rush to his side, saying, "Daddy, I'm here. What I can I do for you?" I'd flip his pillow over to the cool side, touch his hand, speak softly to him, and he'd slip back into deep sleep. As I grew more weary over time, hearing when his breathing changed, I'd sit up on the cot, put my feet on the floor, turn towards him and say, "Daddy, I'm here....", and he'd grow quiet again. In my exhaustion, near the end of those days, I learned that all I had to do was simply lie on the cot in the darkness, and say quietly into the night, "Daddy, I'm here." He'd relax and drop back into regular breathing. It was a great gift I could give my dad, for him to know he was not alone and I was there for him, in direct contrast to all the things I could not give him.<br /><br />At the beginning of those six days, he told me, "Good-bye." I told him how much I would miss him, that I was safe and happy and my husband was a good man, and I'd be okay... I whispered to him that Mama was waiting for him, and he'd see his own dad and mom, his brothers and sisters again soon. I told him he'd taught me the good skills I needed to make it through the rest of my life without him around, but I'd love him forever, he would always be in my heart, and I knew he wanted to go on. I'd be okay.<br /><br />On the sixth day, I left the room for a couple of minutes to get medicine from the car for the terrible reflux that was tormenting my throat. Just gone a couple of minutes; the car was right outside his room--it was a quick trip. When I returned, it took me a minute or two to realize how completely quiet the room was; he was not sleeping. He was gone. I have always marveled at how he waited to die until I left his room. I think that was his last gift to me.<br /><br />Elsie Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-75704938672820503642014-02-07T18:10:08.251-06:002014-02-07T18:10:08.251-06:00Thank you.Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-11317254052057410142014-02-07T09:26:11.134-06:002014-02-07T09:26:11.134-06:00This is another well written article. It expresses...This is another well written article. It expresses many things that I know as the healthcare appointed advocate for my aging parents I will face (probably in the near future as they are both in ill health).<br /><br />One thing everyone should remember dying is a part of living. We are born and immediately we are on the path to death. Some have illness, others accidents and some just never have a chance. I believe we all have a predestined time. Not so sure about what happens after, maybe at some point in my life I will come to terms with that.<br /><br />My heart goes out the Munoz family, Jim and all of the other posters that have had to make a decision to help a loved one pass. I know in my heart these are the right decisions but it does not make it any easier.art-n-musicmomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-35364357336640493182014-02-07T08:38:04.411-06:002014-02-07T08:38:04.411-06:00I want to make an additional comment here because ...I want to make an additional comment here because there is a case of a man having a fundraiser to keep his wife on life support so their baby can be delivered.<br /><br />I did a little bit of digging, and I found the following information about the Munoz case.<br /><br />"Update at 3:07 p.m.: About two hours before today’s hearing, attorneys representing Erick Munoz and John Peter Smith Hospital filed a joint document in which they agree that "at the time of this hearing, the fetus gestating inside Mrs. Munoz is not viable." It is the first time the hospital has acknowledged what Erick Munoz has maintained all along."<br /><br />http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2014/01/fort-worth-hospital-acknowledges-pregnant-woman-is-brain-dead.html/<br /><br />I am posting this because I keep seeing comments about "the hospital never said the baby wouldn't live" or words to this effect, and this coverage of the court hearing SHOWS that both Marlise and her child were doomed no matter what they did. While there are many people who never let facts get in the way of a good argument, this article may be useful to discuss.Zolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02582370959066873139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-18720535945447279052014-02-06T21:01:08.473-06:002014-02-06T21:01:08.473-06:00Well said and I'm a Varley fan also.Well said and I'm a Varley fan also.stevebezanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17498219166686524155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-16153896484401751062014-02-06T18:58:00.923-06:002014-02-06T18:58:00.923-06:00Been there,too. You did the right, correct and mor...Been there,too. You did the right, correct and moral thing. Those that choose otherwise have no empathy and are diminished as they demonstrate to others.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-53832860504654208702014-02-06T14:20:27.109-06:002014-02-06T14:20:27.109-06:00I fear, as you do, that individuals like those in ...I fear, as you do, that individuals like those in the teabagger party are planning just such an assault on the innocents in this land. Their jihad will make the mass shootings, which they are secretly behind via mind control through radio frequencies, seem insignificant by comparison. Watch the skies, they have secret weapons funded by Iran.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-516745077387402442014-02-05T20:23:54.121-06:002014-02-05T20:23:54.121-06:00Warrant, I hope that I am as brave and steadfast w...Warrant, I hope that I am as brave and steadfast when it comes my time for my parents... and I hope my children can be the same when it comes my time.<br />Wine GuyWine Guynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-31682616125660114672014-02-05T19:18:40.705-06:002014-02-05T19:18:40.705-06:00This column touched me deeply, as did many comment...This column touched me deeply, as did many commentors' stories. My father told me years ago that he feared being kept alive with tubes. Due to a recent diagnosis, I may very soon have to honor his wishes. I can barely stand to think about it, but some days I think of little else. But I know that I will do what he wants. And be damned anyone who tries to tell me otherwise. My sympathies to youbitterlilynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-64378593882791430552014-02-05T16:37:38.921-06:002014-02-05T16:37:38.921-06:00Jim - I have never experienced the pain of losing ...Jim - I have never experienced the pain of losing a loved one in this manner. While I cannot empathize, I sincerely sympathize with those who have posted above the sharing of this most agonizing of situations. This post is spot on with regard to the question of simply "whose choice is it anyway"? and the points you have made are stunningly poignant. It amazes me that something so simple (in my humble opinion) becomes so complicated. No one should get to weigh in on such a personal decision except for those immediately tied to the person who is on life support. Period. When did the lines become so blurred? When the choice is made to be completely SELFLESS and to accept the circumstances...when the choice is made to do the right thing for a loved one already gone........when the painful choice is made to let go.....that choice cannot be and should not be interfered with by ANYONE. A family has the right to make decisions and grieve without having to answer to anyone else. Put those who say differently in this situation and I wonder how crystal clear the concept would then become....when you walk a mile in another mans shoes, your perspective changes. I thank you for always speaking so passionately.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-50514834170999285192014-02-05T15:29:41.266-06:002014-02-05T15:29:41.266-06:00I've read through the whole list looking for j...I've read through the whole list looking for just that: a sane version of the apposition argument. Reading the few comments below, after yours, I see the same thing. Where are they? I suppose it's possible that religious people just don't read Jim's Blog, but since he has hundreds of digital-anthrax-laden howler-monkey posts in the trash bin, that's obviously not true. So, is it merely the not-insane religious who avoid Stonekettle Station? Hardly. There are over 200 comments here, and simple statistics says that at least some of them believe in god, and maybe even go to church. So, they *are* here, but are not rebutting Jim's points, and, in fact, agreeing, and reinforcing them. I'll go out on a limb, and predict that some commenters here even think a___tion is wrong. Still nothing. <br />At 64, I've come to see the extremely religious as high-functional schizophrenics. These people would be only a good hissy fit away from involuntary commitment, in a more enlightened world. That world is still a ways off, though. Will out grandkids see it? Maybe the greats? I dunno. I do know, though, that there are some reading my comment, and mumbling famous German and/or Russian names under their breath. Why, how dare he?! He's advocating genocide of Christians!! Nope. Got no interest in the disappearance of any faith from the face of the Earth, I just wish people who profess to follow the teachings of Jesus, Mohammed, or anyone else, would actually do so, rather than beating people about the head with a book of which they've only read the parts that allow them to hate, and make war (and money. Lots and lots of money). <br />That outfit that's trying to rewrite the Bible to make JC look like not so much of a Socialist, and more like Jamie Dimon, is the funniest religion-related news I've seen in years... Meanie-meanie, tickle a personhttp://www.fakeassurl.comnoreply@blogger.com