Last weeks Q&A, wherein they discussed Euthanasia, was one that I’ve been mulling over since. Most of the discussion was your usual crap that serves no purpose but one of the panellists briefly touched upon the informal euthanasia which is currently practised by hospitals.
This made me think of my mum.
My mum had cancer of the liver but it may interest some of you to know that wasn’t what killed her. What killed my mum was the hospital starving her to death because they decided without consultation that she needed a push to hurry her along. I don’t know precisely why they decided this, though I can guess it most likely had something to do with the cost/benefit ratio of keeping her alive and comfortable had tipped too far in the wrong direction.
I’m not angry at them for making the decision that we couldn’t (either legally or emotionally) and would never consider being litigious, but when I think of my mum in that last week it hurts because I know that was not what she would have wanted, regardless of it being for the best.
This is the only thing I have difficulty coping with about mum’s death.
What do you think your Mum would have wanted in the last week?
I don’t think it would have been her last week, but had it been she would have wanted the ability to talk with us. Most of all I think she would have liked some dignity in her death.