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johnny9fingersWhen I kick the bucket I’d rather folk wrote and said I died; not I “passed” or I went to join the choir invisible or any other twee fucking euphemism.
Death is one of those things. I’d rather I had a great and noble (and relatively painless) death of ultimate sacrifice for greater good etc; but I must admit I’d prefer a nice long life first. If those aren’t the cards I’m dealt I hope I can face whatever with fortitude. And the best drugs, obvs.
The best drugs aren’t always the most effective against the disease, but we don’t have proper drugs for that anyway, so the idea of “best” must have different criteria. Stuff that helps with pain is good. Stuff that makes you feel good is good too. If I’m going, I’d quite like an amusing cocktail of euphorics, analgesics, psychedelics, and soporifics please. But not for a few decades yet; if that’s ok with Miladies Lachesis and Atropos.
Of course we all would prefer our span to be rather more than it is; there are galaxies I would like to see unwind over æons. And I would wish that span for anyone who so desired it, too. We appear to be a species locked in neoteny. When we finally overcome that infantilism we may just turn out to be rather cool, actually.
Death is one of those things. I’d rather I had a great and noble (and relatively painless) death of ultimate sacrifice for greater good etc; but I must admit I’d prefer a nice long life first. If those aren’t the cards I’m dealt I hope I can face whatever with fortitude. And the best drugs, obvs.
The best drugs aren’t always the most effective against the disease, but we don’t have proper drugs for that anyway, so the idea of “best” must have different criteria. Stuff that helps with pain is good. Stuff that makes you feel good is good too. If I’m going, I’d quite like an amusing cocktail of euphorics, analgesics, psychedelics, and soporifics please. But not for a few decades yet; if that’s ok with Miladies Lachesis and Atropos.
Of course we all would prefer our span to be rather more than it is; there are galaxies I would like to see unwind over æons. And I would wish that span for anyone who so desired it, too. We appear to be a species locked in neoteny. When we finally overcome that infantilism we may just turn out to be rather cool, actually.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-13 10:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-13 11:46 am (UTC)We have fucking stupid drug laws. Comfort and pleasure should be on the list of necessities of drug prescription for the dying. And for folk like me, and I guess thee, we should have further and greater options; given previous experience.
As a principle we dole these things out on minimal doses and only in need. Which is fucking puritan nonsense in end of life care; and which is why doctors tend to overprescribe a bit with some of the slightly more fun painkillers. However, I think we should address the issue more directly in policy terms; which would open up a lot of other recreational drugs to be available for pleasure in end-of-life care management.
We can't make death a fun experience, but we can increase the fun moments along the path. And this should be worded into some sort of principle of assisted/ameliorated dying. This ain't a moral question really, it's about generosity of spirit, and a greater cultural understanding of death, and practical good for individuals on the one-way street.