I’m going to die. What worries me is how I’m going to die.
There is no place in Canada where you can have support to have dying with dignity, as there is in several countries and several states in the United States…. A lot of clinicians have opposition to dying with dignity. I wish they could live in my body for 24 hours, and I think they would change that opinion.
Low was a world renowned microbiologist who came to public prominence during the SARS crisis in Canada.
“During the SARS crisis Low became known as the expert who was the most easy to understand and the most understanding of the public’s fear, while showing no fear himself. ”
“What many of us in Toronto don’t recognize is the loss he leaves behind to microbiology and infectious diseases in Canada, and to all of his research work in emerging diseases around the world.”
Unfortunately, Low did not have the death he had hoped for. Although not in pain, he became completely paralyzed and was dependent on his family for everything in the last days of his life.
Low’s wife, Maureen Taylor, a physician assistant who speaks quite candidly about Low’s last days, has vowed to continue to fight for death with dignity in Canada.
Taylor said her husband was in favour of laws that allow patients to be prescribed a lethal dose of barbiturates after they’ve had a psychiatric evaluation and had their terminal illness confirmed by two doctors.
In this scenario, the medication sits at the patient’s bedside, giving them the option of a pain-free death they initiate themselves. She said that in many cases, the medication is never used.
“I won’t stop this fight. If I can do anything to bring this forward in the political sphere, then I will do that,” she said.
I urge you to watch Don’s and Maureen’s videos, and to share their message so that the discussion doesn’t end here.
I’m a big proponent of this, especially as medical-technology and life expectancy increases not to mention the obvious fact that we are allowed to treat our pets with more dignity than our family. My sis-in-law’s dad is going through this right now. An 85-year-old in excruciating pain, undergoing his 3rd amputation due to diabetes. To everyone that says, “But who are you to play God?” I would ask, “Then are you also against in vitro fertilization or a heart/lung transplant because we happily play God to create and extend life. No one calls out a couple that wants a baby.” It’s definitely time to have this conversation, but considering the vitriol that erupts in this country about reproductive rights, abortion, and gay rights just to name a few, it’s going to be a while. Perhaps when more states jump on board, the momentum will shift? Great post.
This is why I am glad I am a veterinarian. When it’s time, I have what I need, and I know what I’m doing.
Hearing and sharing stories like this are so important. We’ve hidden death from ourselves too much: knowing about it makes us less scared and helps guide us toward making better choices in how we live and how we die.
From a reader via email reposted here with permission-
I am fortunate to live in Oregon, which was the first state to legalize death with dignity. Interestingly, there has been much less use of it than was expected.
I feel better knowing it will be there for me if the situation warrants it. It is past time for all states to get on board with this compassionate, much-needed law.
Toni
By chance we moved from NYC to Portland, Oregon to live closer to family. In our late 70s, knowing that the Death with Dignity legislation had recently become legal was a plus. We had the accidental good fortune of moving into a retirement community where Dr. Peter Goodwin, a framer of that legislation, lived.
He was an energetic and engaging spokesman for the principles he’d worked so long and hard for through the organization Compassion and Choices. We admired his spirit, learned much as he struggled to be an active community member before he took his own life.