Well, doing that is illegal here (same place where that article that Alffe posted originates from. I'm sure it happens, but it's illegal. If something is already illegal then lawyers and laws and organizations and governments are already involved.

I'm an old nurse myself. I totally understand your concerns, Moose, however, I think I've grown to a place where I can step back and reverse the situation and say ok, this is what I would do for someone else that I know or love who is dying and it's the same as I would give to someone in a hospital setting that I didn't know personally. I would do absolutely everything in my heart and natural abilities to care for them... To care for their bodies and care for their spirit and be with them even if they didn't know I was there.

but...

is it the same as I would want for myself? No, it's not. It's totally different. I see it more about dying comfortably than dying with dignity. Dignity is something that others might feel who are caring for the person. Comfort is what the dying person should feel. If in 5 or 10 or 20 years time and I've lost my mind and lying in some horrid little space I do not want my children or anyone else for that matter to think that prolonging my life in any way serves any part of dignity on my behalf. It won't.

It might make other people feel they gave me some dignity in my dying process and it might make others feel better because they're helping me just as I have helped others die in the past. I do not want people to have a feeling that this is something that has to be done... that this is simply the circle of life. My body and my spirit are mine and mine alone no matter how selfish that might sound to other people. It's not about selfishness and it's also not about dignity to me. There's absolutely nothing dignified about my disease and pain and suffering and dying. No-one can give me any sort of dignity. That's something that I believe I found in life, not in dying.

Life to me is what holds dignity and grace and all those other qualities. I've already made up my mind about how I feel about the people in the article. I see it as not not what others can do for them or how others feel they should die or prolong their lives, it's about what they want, what they decide. It's just that some people wish to think about these things long before they happen so that they have some personal input into the matter rather than the matter being in the hands of other people who might not ever know their real wishes. I totally understand that.

I guess that's why having living wills are so important. It all reminds me of the transplant situations here where I live. You can make it shown on your driver's permit that you wish to be a transplant donor in the event of your untimely death, however if the family doesn't know about this or the family of the deceased decides *they* do not wish for your organs to be donated, then that's the end of that. No donations, even though the deceased person wished for this to happen. People need to talk about these issues openly without fear and without shame. If we don't talk about some of these really touchy subjects (and suicide comes to mind!) then we will never move forward and we will always stagnate.

just my thoughts anyway... for what they're worth. I would imagine if I was a religious person I might have other issues to come to terms with, however, I am not, so my feelings and thoughts written here are purely mine based on my life's experiences and lessons learned. hope that makes sense.