Time to update the papers

I know I'm doing this ASAP. Enough is enough! No way will I let "them" try to keep me alive if I fall into a state of disrepair to the point of absolutely no hope.

I've already been there a couple of times and it would have been just fine with me if I had died.

This site here has a living will for every state in the USA for free.

Do this for yourself and for others that might care about you and make sure you give a copy of it to your doctor!!!!!!!

Don't leave the gov't left holding the bag as is the case with Terri!

If you don't have these papers drawn up the law requires you be resuscitated again and again and again and again ... until you are DEAD.

https://www.legaldocs.com/htmdocs/livin_st.htm

Not all disabled people want to kept alive in a state of existence that is not desirable!!!!!

These "advocates" totally PISS ME OFF!

DO THESE ADVOCATES LIVE IN PAIN 24 HOURS A DAY?

DO THESE ADVOCATES KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO HAVE NOTHING TO LIVE ON RELYING ON SOCIAL SECURITY WHICH WANTS TO BE TAKEN AWAY FROM "US"?

I don't think "they" have a fucking clue!

I believe that every single person has the right to decide what they want to do with THEIR life and their BODY, which I might add includes kill it if one so desires.

Several of the people I know in the disability rights movement have severe chronic pain and are either on SSI or similar programs or don't even have that and have to live off whoever will take them in, some living in institutions. Which is why we are advocates for pain control and a better standard of living, rather than advocates for an easy death that makes it that much easier for the government and everyone else to deny us these basic things.

Dr. Hurwitz's case involved prescriptions for opioids like OxyContin or Vicodin. Abuse of those drugs can be a lethal problem, but the new consensus among pain doctors is that very high doses are appropriate in some chronic pain cases. The Drug Enforcement Administration apparently disagrees. The Hurwitz case shows that increasingly it is the D.E.A., not doctors, that decides what is appropriate therapy.

Last August the D.E.A. published policies to guide doctors in treating pain. The document said the amount or duration of pain medicine prescribed was a physician's decision and would not by itself spark a criminal investigation. Dr. Hurwitz's lawyers filed to introduce it as evidence. Mysteriously, it suddenly disappeared from the D.E.A. Web site. The agency then announced it contained "misstatements." In November, the agency published new guidelines that said doctors who prescribe high dosages of opioids for long stretches are subject to investigation.

Pain is already undertreated in America. Although pain experts estimate that perhaps one in 10 people who suffer from chronic pain could benefit from opioids, the vast majority will never find this out. Many doctors won't prescribe opioids, especially in high doses. Opioids are safe and nonaddictive if used correctly, but addictive and deadly if crushed and injected or snorted, which defeats their time-release mechanism.

<snip>

Dozens of doctors have been charged with drug trafficking because the D.E.A. felt they were prescribing too many pills. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons warns doctors to think twice before treating pain. "Discuss the risks with your family," it says.

Continued @ http://www.cpmission.com/main/painpolitics/difference.html

In my other political suit, I'm against the "War on Drugs"...especially for the reasons you've mentioned in your response.

Doctors, no matter what they personally feel, are being scrutinized in terms of what and how much pain meds they prescribe.

I suspect there is some collusion between pharmaceuticals and the Drug laws; it's MUCH cheaper, more effective to use natural opiates (and Medical Marijuana) to treat pain and depressions that go with (not to mention, opiates/natural substances can't be patented)......hence, by using the more natural remedies for pain, the pharmaceutical companies won't make as much money trying to sell their "new non-addictive" pain relievers: read Vioxx, Celebrex etc ..

Trying to abate methamphetamine use is one thing; leaning on physicians for prescribing EFFECTIVE pain relief is quite another.

... as putting a Band-Aid on a severed limb. However, as you said, the profits are in the pharmaceuticals, rather than the natural substances. Does it matter that the pharmaceutical solutions are unaffordable, less effective, and riskier to so many patients? Does it matter that patients suffer? Not to this sadistic administration... after all, they do have a standing torture policy, don’t they? The DEA going after physicians seems to be just an extension of that policy.

Culture of life? HAH! It’s a culture of dehumanization, torture, sadism, cruelty, inhumanity, ad infinitum.

I couldn't agree with you more when addressing the culture of life under this current admin.

While it's a good thing many from differing political persuasions came out to support Ms Schiavo's human rights, it needs to be reiterated that "quality of life" needs supporting in ALL other sectors as well.

These issues, along with poverty issues, were/are my main focus until I was awakened to Terri's plight...

Whadda country..

Just kidding! I seem to have a virtual closetful myself. I'm having mental images of what some of them might look like, possibly a good topic for the new Women's World forum. ;-)

I worry about my PCP being pressured not to prescribe opioids but I would hope that anyone looking at his records would see that I've been on stable, and relatively low, dosages for years, He's told me several times "You know, you really can take more medication when you need to -- and you should take X twice every day to keep the levels fairly constant. And on a bad day, go ahead and take the Y, too. You don't have to try to tough it out when you hurt a lot."

But that's my PCP; as I said above, my rheumy is into denial or something. Several years ago, my husband was at an appt. with me and trying to explain to the rheumy how much pain I was suffering, asking him if he couldn't give me something stronger to help with the pain. The doctor said "You don't want me to just throw medication at your wife's pain, do you?"

:wtf:

Why are pain medications manufactured if not to "throw at pain"???


I was in tears that day from the pain and the doctor not listening made things much worse. Maybe if I'd broken down and sobbed, he'd have noticed, but I'm not the sort who often cries in front of others.

I was trying to explain that one day a few days earlier, I'd been in so much pain that I had to call my husband to leave work in the middle of the day to bring me a heating pad. Dr. Personality interrupted me, saying not very nicely, "Why couldn't you get it for yourself?"

I just managed to keep from losing it and say, "Because the old one had quit working and he had to stop and buy a new one before bringing it to me."

Doctors! :shrug:

(He sort of apologized, but still! I keep going to him because he's the only rheumatologist in town and it's very hard for me to travel to another city. I am going to look into someone else, though, but of course finding one in-network for my HMO is another consideration. . . My rheumy should never have gone into clinical medicine, research or teaching would have suited his personality better. He likes to explain things and talk about the latest research but he doesn't seem to understand he's supposed to be treating my lupus and fibromyalgia, not merely charting the progress of the diseases. As you could see from my example, he also doesn't listen well. I've been his patient for ten years and I doubt he ever has caught on that I'm a biologist and thus not entirely clueless about human physiology!)

Fortunately, my PCP is a good doctor and a decent human being as well, and when I talked to him about pain, he listened. I'd already tried a lot of meds so it wasn't long before he suggested to me that he'd like me to consider taking opioids for better pain management.


Speaking of :smoke:

I asked my PCP once about medical marijuana but he didn't think it would help me, likely just give me the munchies, LOL. (Steroid-induced weight gain is one of my troubles, alas.) ;-)

World Women's Forum idea too!

Geez, louise you've had a go of it. Your Rheumy is probably more interested in "selling" you "new meds". Perhaps he's invested in a pharma?
In any case, who needs docterin' like that! Thank GOODNESS for your PCP!

I finally found the courage to ask for pain meds from my MD. I was seeing his nurse practioner; I loved her. She quit :( Now, I'm in a similar situation with the main doc GIVING ME LECTURES before actually getting down to helping me. I dread going back. I too am taking the minimum dosages of a moderate pain killer. Some days I could really use something stronger but since I'm also a caregiver I have to remain alert. *sigh*


LOL regarding the "herb". You are so right DemB; the stuff can increase your waistline and who needs that. I sure don't. My hubby does belong to a Medical Marijuana co-op. Very well organized and strict. Most of the MD's in town (and the hospital) are okay with sending people there.

It's not a buyers club; one has to participate in the activities/meetings. It helps so many people: cancer patients, epileptics, physically disabled of all stripes, more. They are thinking of starting a hospice of their own. Very very good and compassionate people. BUT, it's not the be all to end all for everyone......to each his own. :hug:

Clinical research touted by the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research that shows marijuana's components can inhibit the growth of cancerous brain tumors is the latest in a long line of studies demonstrating the drug's potential as an anti-cancer agent. Not familiar with it? You're not alone.

Despite the value of these studies, both in terms of the treatment of life-threatening illnesses and as items of news – the latest being that performed by researchers at Madrid's Complutense University that found cannabis restricts the blood supply to glioblastoma multiforme tumors, an aggressive brain tumor that kills some 7,000 people in the United States per year – U.S. media coverage of them has been almost non-existent.

Why the blackout? For starters, all of these medical cannabis studies were conducted overseas. Secondly, not one of them has been acknowledged by the U.S. government.

This wasn't always the case. In fact, the first experiment documenting pot's anti-tumor effects took place in 1974 at the Medical College of Virginia at the behest of the U.S. government. The results of that study, reported in an Aug. 18, 1974, Washington Post newspaper feature, were that marijuana's psychoactive component, THC, "slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent."

Continued @ http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/20008/

I also remember seeing a piece on CNN(several months ago) where a female medical researcher from UCLA (can't remember her title) talking about the effects of THC, in some form, helping with hyperactivity and depressed youth. Wowzers!

My hubby's MM co-op brought up a study from Stanford U (CA) where they are studying the effects of cannabis on violent/troubled youth. Allegedly, the researchers came up with a combo/formula of THC called: HAPPY PILLS<---do tell. (LOL) Very interesting...

Please consider sending an e-mail or fax to your U.S. representative, expressing your support for the medical marijuana amendment to the Science-State-Justice-Commerce Appropriations bill:

http://www.mpp.org/DD/action.html

I have been very fortunate to have a primary care practitioner who has had no qualms about prescribing opioids for my chronic pain, which is severe when not medicated. My rheumatologist is an asshat who wanted me to get by on Vioxx, Celebrex, etc., all of which tore up my stomach. I ended up in the hospital twenty years ago with erosive gastritis caused by Naprosyn (sp.? maybe I've forgotten the name -- God knows I wanted to forget the pain of erosive gastritis.)

While I'm ranting, I've been to the ER a couple of other times with bouts of severe gastritis, with pain as intense as an ectopic pregnancy (which was also fun!) and each time they spent hours fiddling around with minor-leage remedies and then finally gave me the miraculous "GI cocktail." As I understand it, the major ingredient of a GI cocktail is old-fashioned paregoric so I don't know why they wait and wait and wait while a patient suffers. Maybe things are better now, my last ER trip for that was 1994, but after my first experience, the Naprosyn-induced one, I've wanted to know why the hell they wait all night to try the one thing that works! It flat knocked me out, every time, and when I work up the pain was much diminished and I could start the next round of new, improved drugs for the stomach!

I'm very sorry for your pain...many of us do live with excruciating pain from various medical conditions. In my families case, depression is a result from too much pain. We have and do live through all of that.

The disabled advocacy groups aims are to IMPROVE the quality of life for individuals with various forms of disability and chronic pain. We, who are in the low income bracket<---(understatement I know) probably suffer the most with lack of adequate services, lack of adequate housing..certainly a lot of disdain from the general public. It IS abominable.

I understand one cannot live forever. We all have to go sometime. My worry is that so many people look down upon folks who are in various stages of disability to the point where getting our needs met or getting quality healthcare and appropriate accomodations begins to diminish. We worry that all of society wants us GONE or warehoused out of the public eye; that living as a disabled person isn't a "worthy or meaningful life". THAT is scary. We don't want to be forced to perish before we're ready.

But absolutely yes, if you make your medical wishes known, you have every right to do that. I certainly encourage wills and all the rest.

My own significantly disabled spouse in his mid 50's has made his wishes very clear and documented. He is tired, he has MULTIPLE health complications, he is in pain most of the time. He has openly said he does NOT want to be resusitated or kept on "life support" of any kind if he should fall into a coma or some other profoundly serious condition from which he will never recover. He's made his peace and he's settled about the whole thing.

Before he had all these other complications, beyond his physical disability, however--when he was younger, he was a pip. Whadda guy. Out going, funny, happy, an activist, a volunteer, a good companion and friend to many many people.

We care about each other's needs and dignity and the right to live our lives as best we can.

Thank you for expressing your views and coming in here to share them.

Best, SB :hug:

If Terri were able to say what she wants for herself and she wanted the feeding tube out, that would be fine.

If she'd written her wishes down and they indicated pretty clearly that she'd want to die, that would be fine, too.

But as it stands she's being killed on the basis of hearsay testimony, and I will always oppose euthanasia, especially euthanasia for the disabled.

I'll also always support anyone's right to refuse care for herself. But be careful what you sign. Many of those free wills are worth exactly what you pay for them.


I guess I'm one of those disability rights advocates who piss you off.

:shrug:

But I think you're mad at the wrong people.

I have multiple chronic conditions that cause me chronic pain and am homebound most of the time. I know how little value most people see in a disabled life. I know how willing they are to kill us. I'm going to let *them* know I'm Not Dead Yet!