Posted: Aug 18, 2019 12:16 am
Interestingly enough I encountered this situation this month with my own family. An Aunt on my mom's side was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. They told her there was nothing they could do that wouldn't be torture with no benefit. Two weeks later she took the gun out of my uncle's cabinet, went out behind the shed, and attempted to end her life. Neighbors heard the shot, EMT got there and doctors subsequently put her on life support. For over a week in her few lucid moments she laid there trying to pull her own tubes out. Finally, my uncle and cousin had the sense to allow doctors to pull the plug. We have a shitty way of thinking about death. We'll take our dogs to the vet and put them down "humanely" but a dying woman who tries to take her own life can end up with tubes in her wishing she were dead.