Speaking of Death...

Here's a very interesting perspective on dying from an editorial from the AJC today...

A good life should end easily

By JACK REEVES
Published on: 12/16/05

Marvin died within seconds after the injection. Our veterinarian softly uttered, "There's no charge." My wife, Nancy, cradled our cat as I drove home. He was old, had a terminal illness, and suffered. Once a humane society kitten, we buried him with tears and honor. A stone and daffodils mark his grave.

The life of convicted killer Stanley "Tookie" Williams' ended Tuesday from injections of sodium pentothal, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride.

Pentothal induced unconsciousness within 30 seconds. Pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxant, stopped breathing within a minute. Potassium chloride instantly stopped his heart. It was totally painless.

Nancy died of stage four cancer on Nov. 27. She was 66. Amid bodily anguish and horrid consciousness she pleaded twice: "I wish someone would give me a shot and I could go to sleep."

The hospice nurse came two days before. During her initial visit, she discussed with Nancy her living will, in which Nancy directed that "the application of life-sustaining procedures to [her] body , including nourishment and hydration, be withheld or withdrawn and that [she] be permitted to die."

For Nancy, there was no "shot" — only liquid morphine sulfate. Day and night I put measured doses under her tongue. Twice, though, she suddenly arose in bed, eyes wide staring at me, and screamed.

I'm haunted: What horror slouched through her soul?

She went through the stages of death for three days. Her temperature elevated, then she became colder as blood was being preserved by her failing organs. There is a death rattle: a gurgling sound produced by air passing through mucus in the lungs and air passages. Her breathing became difficult as her courageous heartbeat accelerated.

Some 48 hours after the hospice nurse was satisfied that all was in (legal) order, my beloved Nancy succumbed.

A friend and I were with her to the end. We had nothing to sufficiently palliate our suffering either.

Marvin's death occurred in seconds. Williams' occupied two unconscious minutes. We have mercy on pets and those who cruelly murder. But not for the Nancys.

The love of my life was past president of the Licensed Professional Counselors Association of Georgia, Counselor of the Year in 2005, and elected to the board of directors of the new LPCA Foundation. She was an extraordinary, good person.

I could not help her die without pain and terror. Nancy, even with morphine, experienced the private hell of her death — for days. I know. She screamed its horror to me.

"I wish someone would give me a shot and I could go to sleep."

Why can't we?


This truly epitomizes my opinion about allowing people to end their lives the way they want to go. Fuck you fundamentalist, sadistic, right-winged neo-Christians who think it's a sin to end your own life. This is the whole reason God gave us free will, dipshit. Or, did you skip that part of CCD?