A Jain friend of mine posted on facebook about his grandfather choosing
death after a fulfilling life through Santhara, aka religious fasting
unto death. I was quite surprised reading his post because India considers suicide as a cognizible offense. However, from the friend's post it seemed like by undertaking Santhara, his grandfather was regarded as a saint, the Santhara a public event and there were relatives posting about the Santhara in the terms of "darshan ka labh leve".
My colleague lost his young niece to cancer 3 years ago. He participated in a fundraising run, the proceeds of which go towards research to find a cure for neuroblastoma (the type of cancer his niece died of). I recently read a blog by the niece's mom, which detailed all the rounds of chemotherapy the little child had to undergo, till finally it was time to let go.
Another colleague had to put down his dog. She developed a tumour which caused internal hemorrhage. Their options were surgery and letting her go. They chose the latter because greyhounds have very low body fat to be anesthetized. My colleague said that the dog had a good life, she only had 2 hours of suffering in her 13 years of life.
Humans are supposed to be rational beings. Secretly everyone hopes for a quick, painfree death with little burden on their caregivers. Why do we have such a hard time in delinking hope and suffering? Atul Gawande says that most healthcare goes to terminal patients, and that too in last two months of their lives when the medicines are of little help. A vet has no qualms about suggesting that a beloved dog be put down, then why are doctors so sure about their ability to play God?
Then there was this Amish girl, whose parents decided to stop chemotherapy, so that they can make her death as painfree as possible. The hospital and the courts found this incomprehensible and are prosecuting the family. The family argues that there was a high chance of the cancer relapsing. Of course this is a decision that a doctor can take the best, but one often finds that the doctors are not upfront about all the pros and cons and treatment options.
Conversely, I read another blog, this time by an adult dying of cancer. He was a Professor of Psychology, and he chose when and how to schedule the chemotherapy which would leave him fatigued, so that he could take time off with his wife, and live his remaining life to the fullest. He very clearly differentiates quality of life Vs quantity of life. His choice was quality, but his doctors or family wanted to prolong the quantity. Just because he was an adult, and how to end his life was his own decision; his dying wish was considered valid enough that he was not hounded by the judiciary.But the law gets murky when the patient is not a legal adult, or is senile, or is in a vegetative state. An excellent plot about a patient who wants to let go but her mom isn't allowing her to , Proceedings of appeal on behalf of Aruna Shanbaug
In the case of my friend's grandfather, the days leading upto death was a celebration of his joyous life, and his passing considered spiritual and peaceful. Death is supreme and inevitable, and its high time judiciaries, doctors, patients and their family stop fearing it. Afterall to a well organized mind, death is but the next adventure.
My colleague lost his young niece to cancer 3 years ago. He participated in a fundraising run, the proceeds of which go towards research to find a cure for neuroblastoma (the type of cancer his niece died of). I recently read a blog by the niece's mom, which detailed all the rounds of chemotherapy the little child had to undergo, till finally it was time to let go.
Another colleague had to put down his dog. She developed a tumour which caused internal hemorrhage. Their options were surgery and letting her go. They chose the latter because greyhounds have very low body fat to be anesthetized. My colleague said that the dog had a good life, she only had 2 hours of suffering in her 13 years of life.
Humans are supposed to be rational beings. Secretly everyone hopes for a quick, painfree death with little burden on their caregivers. Why do we have such a hard time in delinking hope and suffering? Atul Gawande says that most healthcare goes to terminal patients, and that too in last two months of their lives when the medicines are of little help. A vet has no qualms about suggesting that a beloved dog be put down, then why are doctors so sure about their ability to play God?
Then there was this Amish girl, whose parents decided to stop chemotherapy, so that they can make her death as painfree as possible. The hospital and the courts found this incomprehensible and are prosecuting the family. The family argues that there was a high chance of the cancer relapsing. Of course this is a decision that a doctor can take the best, but one often finds that the doctors are not upfront about all the pros and cons and treatment options.
Conversely, I read another blog, this time by an adult dying of cancer. He was a Professor of Psychology, and he chose when and how to schedule the chemotherapy which would leave him fatigued, so that he could take time off with his wife, and live his remaining life to the fullest. He very clearly differentiates quality of life Vs quantity of life. His choice was quality, but his doctors or family wanted to prolong the quantity. Just because he was an adult, and how to end his life was his own decision; his dying wish was considered valid enough that he was not hounded by the judiciary.But the law gets murky when the patient is not a legal adult, or is senile, or is in a vegetative state. An excellent plot about a patient who wants to let go but her mom isn't allowing her to , Proceedings of appeal on behalf of Aruna Shanbaug
In the case of my friend's grandfather, the days leading upto death was a celebration of his joyous life, and his passing considered spiritual and peaceful. Death is supreme and inevitable, and its high time judiciaries, doctors, patients and their family stop fearing it. Afterall to a well organized mind, death is but the next adventure.
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