Friday May 22, 2009, 4:57 pm
"She had been diagnosed a month ago with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and was told she was "actively dying," Compassion & Choices said in a written statement.

"The pain became unbearable, and it was only going to get worse," Fleming said, according to the organization.

It said Fleming had worked with the organization's volunteers to consider her choices. "I am a very spiritual person, and it was very important to me to be conscious, clear-minded and alert at the time of my death," she said, according to Compassion & Choices. "The powerful pain medications were making it difficult to maintain the state of mind I wanted to have at my death. And I knew I would have to increase them."

Compassion and Choices is an excellent organization, fighting for the rights and welfare of terminally-ill patients and their families. For anyone interested in checking them out, go to:

http://www.compassionandchoices.org/

Friday May 22, 2009, 5:07 pm
Thank you for this wonderful peace-of-mind news, Lindsey. I think it's great that Cancer patients have this choice.

Friday May 22, 2009, 5:08 pm
I didn't know about this. Thanks for posting this. I've always wondered if any places had laws like this.

Friday May 22, 2009, 5:16 pm
Ginger, Oregon was the first and their law has been in effect for quite a few years now. And it has worked very, very well. Unfortunately your state (and mine) of Alabama will likely be the 49th or 50th to enact such progressive legislation.

Friday May 22, 2009, 5:19 pm
Yes it is a good law and a good option. As much as I tried to save Tootsie from all pain of dying it didn't work out overall.

Friday May 22, 2009, 5:23 pm
It's hard when you can't help those you love as much as you'd like, Christy. Especially as hard as you tried to help. But you did everything you could and I have absolutely no doubt that it was so beneficial.

Friday May 22, 2009, 5:24 pm
I always love reading the stories about those who can be helped:

"ADRIENNE'S STORY
Mary, my mother, was a fabulously vibrant woman of 59 who practiced yoga and loved long walks in the woods with her dog. She had a loving husband and four daughters who leaned on her for her wisdom and advice even while they charted their own individual lives. Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer in April, 1999. She accepted the news with quiet, determined strength. She started the long journey of breast cancer treatment while still having time to support and encourage her family. She did it all: surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and any other treatment that hinted at promise. She joked that if she had to be cursed with breast cancer she could at least be the guinea pig that might lead to new breakthrough treatments.

She traveled the country with her bright spirit and unyielding optimism. She gave herself over to being poked and prodded and injected at cancer centers. From her native Pacific Northwest to NIH in Bethesda, Maryland then to Cleveland Cancer center, she never lost her sense of humor or her enormous hope. However, nothing worked.

From the moment she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she started preparing her family for her end of life wishes. I will never forget that phone call where she told me the prognosis was not good and continued. "I am not afraid of dying, I am afraid of the process of dying." She told us she wanted to be able to choose her own time and circumstances. We understood her wishes; we just didn’t know how to honor them.

The summer of 2003 was bleak as we tried to remain optimistic but knew in our hearts the end was getting closer. She made out her living will and asked us to help her take control of her death. We did some research on the internet and discovered Compassion & Choices. Mary was relieved, she knew she could now stop fighting this disease and end things when and where she wanted to. In early September 2003, she and her husband took a last vacation...a small one, four days in British Columbia. It was there that she realized her days were numbered. She became partially paralyzed and had to return early. Her breast cancer had moved into her brain.

Mary died on September 22, 2003, at home with her family around her with the support of Compassion & Choices. She was 59 years old. Her family will always be grateful that she was ultimately able to spend her last few weeks knowing she had control over her death just as she did over her life."

From the Compassion and Choices website.

Friday May 22, 2009, 5:33 pm
Very true, Barbara. Although so many people would rather allow their lives to end naturally (which is their right, of course), there are so many who would prefer a more peaceful and controlled end.

What I hope to see in my lifetime is not only the expansion of these laws nationwide, but also an expansion of what they allow. Currently the only thing allowed is for a physician to prescribe lethal medication for the patient to take him/herself. Which means that a patient who is totally physically incapacitated, but mentally alert, cannot self-deliver (and no third party can assist them or that person can be prosecuted for assisting a suicide - although that happens quite often and many times the law will just quietly look away and not take any official notice of the "crime"). I would like to see the laws mirror those in the Netherlands where a physician can actually administer the drugs (to a consenting patient, of course.)

Friday May 22, 2009, 5:34 pm
I think we should have power over our own bodies. That means that no one else should have the right to force a dying person to continue to be barely alive and tormented by pain. I have been hospitalized many times, as I was not blessed with a healthy body. Have you ever heard a dying patient with cancer, scream, moan and cry all day and night for several of them at a time, like all during your own hospitalization? It makes a lasting impression on you, believe me. We don't even let dying animals suffer like that.

Friday May 22, 2009, 6:14 pm
Thanks for this informative story Lindsey. I learned a lot from it.

Friday May 22, 2009, 7:13 pm
People should always have a choice as to what they want to do with their own bodies. And when pain becomes so unbearable, and doctors will not treat pain, no one in their right mind would live in that kind of situaion.

Friday May 22, 2009, 7:37 pm
They treat the pain NIck, but it makes you into a semi-comatose body. It's a fine line, and then you have to wait for a possibly long time if you are allowed to withhold nutrition and fluids, so the body suffers starving and dehydration while the body shuts down.

Friday May 22, 2009, 10:04 pm
This is such good news. Every living thing should be allowed to die with dignity. It should be an individual's choice.

Thanks Lindsey

Saturday May 23, 2009, 12:05 am
Of course we would all prefer a silent painless death in our sleep, we as know too many are facing a long battle with pain for the patient and the family. It seems cruel that this organization is not allowed to operate in all 50 states. These are true angels of mercy. I lost a very close friend who had to endure horrible pain to is last breath. I don't understand the laws that prevent people from being assisted in their final choice.

Thank you Lindsey for the moving and compassionate story.

Saturday May 23, 2009, 2:06 am
It only makes sense. Why it would ever be any of the government's business how or when a terminally ill person wants to end their own life is ridiculous anyway.

Saturday May 23, 2009, 5:48 am
Oregon has it's own website detailing a great deal of information on its death-with-dignity law. Many people who may be concerned over the potential safeguards might be interested to know what they are:

"The patient must meet certain criteria to be able to request to participate in the Act. Then, the following steps must be fulfilled: 1) the patient must make two oral requests to the attending physician, separated by at least 15 days; 2) the patient must provide a written request to the attending physician, signed in the presence of two witnesses, at least one of whom is not related to the patient; 3) the attending physician and a consulting physician must confirm the patient's diagnosis and prognosis; 4) the attending physician and a consulting physician must determine whether the patient is capable of making and communicating health care decisions for him/herself; 5) if either physician believes the patient's judgment is impaired by a psychiatric or psychological disorder (such as depression), the patient must be referred for a psychological examination; 6) the attending physician must inform the patient of feasible alternatives to the Act including comfort care, hospice care, and pain control; 7) the attending physician must request, but may not require, the patient to notify their next-of-kin of the prescription request. A patient can rescind a request at any time and in any manner. The attending physician will also offer the patient an opportunity to rescind his/her request at the end of the 15-day waiting period following the initial request to participate."

http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/pas/faqs.shtml#whena

Saturday May 23, 2009, 1:10 pm
There has been a lot o worry about assisted deaths in the UK in case people, especially the elderly, were pushed into a situation that they didn't really want. It's interesting to see that Oregon has had 401 in 15 years. My hubby & I have each advised each other that if we ever have a stroke that means that we are totally incapacitated then we are not to be revived. To me, if someone wants to go in dignity and peace with all of their family around them then I think that it is a wonderful choice. Not everyone that is ill will want to make that choice and that is there right, why not for those that do?

Saturday May 23, 2009, 1:56 pm
It is about time! We don't even let our pets suffer the way they make humans do.if someone is in pain and dying it is their right!

Sunday May 24, 2009, 1:38 am
I agree Tierney G. we are kinder to our animals. In my family I have had an Uncle who died a horrible painful death over 9 months after he had been told he had less than 2 weeks to live and a mother who died rather quickly. My Uncle never lost hope. My mother gave in from the moment she was told. Regardless of the outcome, it is their decision to make.

Sunday May 24, 2009, 1:59 am
The right to choose how to leave your physical live should be a given choice to everyone!!
It's your live you can do with it what ever you want, I'm aware that things like this also happen without respect for the people left behind, but stil............... it's there choice.
Why else would have ( who'm ever one believes in) has made people invent the wiel.
Like's been said we don't even let our annimals suffer like that!
People should be intitled to make there own choice and get the time and space to do so!!

respect Hazeyjane!

Sunday May 24, 2009, 1:48 pm
What are the parameters of this law? What age does one get this privilege? Is it only physical illnesses or mental illnesses? Having suffered very long bouts of depression and being very suicidal but then coming out of it I wonder what I would have done? I'm not too sure about this power over life and death with others and sometimes with myself. I would like to read more info about this.

Great article.

Sunday May 24, 2009, 1:56 pm
All the details are located on this website:

http://www.doh.wa.gov/dwda/faq.htm#who

And you must be a legal adult to qualify under the Act. Only physical illnesses that are terminal (expected to die within six months) are covered, not mental illnesses or chronic conditions.

Tuesday May 26, 2009, 9:13 am
This is hopeful because I do belive strongly in the right of an individual to decide their fate. I would hate to live a prolonged life of pain and disability. Modern medicine has prolonged life far past productivity and dignity in most cases.

Tuesday May 26, 2009, 10:26 pm
Thanks Lindsey..
Noted..

Friday May 29, 2009, 9:29 am
Unfortunately I can see this being used against anyone the govt deems to be a problem in the future. They would find a way to spin it and make it sound just like this.....and what about people who want to live? Even if they only have a month or 2....Randy Pauch comes to mind....I am glad this person had a choice, but I worry that it will be easier to die than to live in situations where someone could life longer. How long do you think it would be until it becomes anyone with any sort of physical illness?

Friday May 29, 2009, 9:35 am
Aod D - that's the price of freedom of choice. Some people make the right choices for themselves - others may not. But we don't penalize everyone because some people may make decisions others feel are wrong for them.

If a patient wants to live - then they won't choose assisted suicide. There are numerous safeguards in place which must be legally followed and thoroughly documented.

No one should be forced to die before their natural end if they choose to live. And no one should be forced to live beyond the point where they feel life is no longer worth living.