A good friend is dying here in CA and needs help.

Our kids go to school together. We spent 2 months building a pre-school together (parent co-op). She is an amazingly strong woman. She has terminal cancer.

her latest e-mail...


I can't believe that I got up the courage to go to Sacramento and be in
a press conference, but I did it! I was asked to speak in support of
AB374 for aid in dying. I was motivated because when my mom died two
years ago of natural causes at the age of 91, my dad was not prepared
to
deal with her final day of agony. He had expected that if she had no
diseases she would just die peacefully in her sleep. But it wasn't at
all like that. He said it was horrible. I know that if my mom had had
the choice, she wouldn't have wanted to put him or herself through
that. Also, I volunteered to speak because I have credibility that my
main interest is in living. Some of the opponents of the bill claim
that it will be abused by people to commit suicide. So I pointed out
that if there's any creature on earth who will fight like hell for
life,
it's a mom with young kids. And you all know that I can't resist a
moral soapbox, so we went. After the press conference, while we
speakers were going around to the offices, gently arguing for AB374,
Steve and the kids got a VIP tour of the Capitol. They got to go into
Schwarzenegger's office, where Jeremy handed a copy of his latest
screenplay to the Governator's receptionist. He pointed out that he
had
written in a small role for the Governor, so if he wants to be in it,
it
won't take much time.

If you agree with me that civilization and medical science have
advanced
to the point that we need this bill, then please click on the following
to send an email to our assemblyman, Ira Ruskin.

http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a21/

If you don't agree, then by all means, feel free to yell at me (in
email). Some doctors oppose AB374 because they believe it violates "Do
no harm." But I've never seen proof that circumcision does no harm, so
I'd say that line has been crossed. But maybe the benefits outweigh
the
costs. I'd say that the benefits of AB374 definitely outweigh the
costs. Some have said to me that death is part of life, so whatever
happens in death is beautiful. My dad would not agree that my mom's
death was beautiful. So see what you think. The sponsors asked me to
come back in a month for the vote, so at least they liked what I wrote.

Nancy


My name is Nancy Kelem. I am 53 years old and live in Silicon Valley .
I
have a B.S. in Math and Computer Science and an M.S. in Engineering
from
UCLA. After working for almost 20 years as a computer scientist, I
quit
work to raise my kids: a 6-yr-old daughter, whom we adopted from
China,
and 2 sons, ages 8 and 11. Twenty-two months ago I was just a mom
volunteering at school and chauffeuring my 3 kids.
A few weeks before my daughter started Kindergarten, I was diagnosed
with colon cancer that had spread to my liver and lymph nodes. It's
incurable, so I'm kept alive by miraculous drugs. I am totally focused
on living, fighting like heck for the sake of my kids. Every 3 months
I
have a CT scan that tells me what my chances are for another 6 months.
My doctor says that eventually cancers always adapt and become
resistant
to the drugs.

I hope that none of you ever has to plead for aid in dying. I hope
that
when your time comes, you are fortunate enough to have a peaceful
death. But quite often, that's not what happens. Many people
experience what's called "Death Throes," which my dictionary defines as
a hard, painful struggle. Having a life-threatening illness has helped
me clarify my concerns regarding dying. Merely wishing for a peaceful
death is nowhere near acceptable. I have two concerns regarding dying.
The first is my firm intent to prevent my kids from witnessing horrors.
I don't want them to hear me scream or know that I am in agony.
Second,
I've had 2 babies without epidurals, so I'm no pain wimp. But after an
honest debate with myself, I admit that I also have a concern for
myself. I would like to legally have the right to choose to show
myself
some mercy by sparing myself some suffering at the end of my life.

Medical science has made miraculous advances, so that doctors can
extend
people's live for months or years longer than their diseases would
otherwise let them live. But this also often extends suffering. Ask
yourself what you would want for yourself if you were being kept alive
by drugs or machines, and only under conditions of unbearable agony or
such huge doses of opiates that you are a zombie, mentally, and your
body's normal systems can't function or can function only with even
more
drugs. I hope you don't have to seriously consider this for yourself
ever, or at least not for many years.

I am here today to ask for *your* mercy, your vote for this
compassionate legislation. No law can punish a corpse! But I want to
protect my family from the stigma of having my death labeled a suicide.
Without this law, my kids will experience the trauma of my ultimate,
hideous deterioration. Eventually, I might be unconscious, so I won't
have to know. But I know *now*, and that knowledge forces me to beg
you to pass a law that de-criminalizes and de-stigmatizes a basic human
right: the right for a sane, but terminally ill, person to choose a
peaceful death.

Thank you to the authors of AB374 for acting quickly to reduce the
anxieties of people like myself and to spare surviving family members
from witnessing needless agony.

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Read the articles to further understand her plight.


http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2007/05/a_mother_pleads.html

http://www.caforaidindying.org/index.php

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18541219/


The bill she is trying to get passed is
http://www.legisweb.net/v2/public/calm/Retrieve.asp?ref=urn%3Acalm%3A2007%3Aab0374%3Adoc



There are no spearheading groups yet - any ideas?

I'm too tired tonight to be any good but, bookmarking and I'll be back. Thanks for posting, neighbor.

:kick:

She may want to checkout the following link:
http://www.thedcasite.com/

There is some interesting leading edge stuff happening over there but she needs to read all the cautions etc.

I think we are past the turning point, but I will pass it on.

I think it is worth seriously considering - TODAY! No I don't have any connection to it.

I just wish Molly Ivins had been able to give it a shot.:grr:

It's an orphan drug that has science behind it - this is not Laetrile. At the same time there is no guarantee it will work for her but it is pretty cheap to try. There is an interesting phenomenon going on here, the drug is very promising, it is used for other things so you can get it without a prescription for your pets, it has already been tested in animals and people, it is an orphan drug that has been out so long it can't be patented and people with end stage cancer are finding ways of trying it NOW instead of in 3-5 years when the studies are done. There are side effects that people are finding ways to cope with. One potentially lethal side effect is killing a tumor too fast (Tumor Lysis Syndrome) and causing kidney failure. They recommend lower doses because of this. It clearly doesn't work for everyone as on doctor with end stage prostate cancer documented.

A powerful letter. Best wishes to you, Nancy Kelem.

A big 'Thank You' from me as well

know who introduced their law. I have to disagree with the claim that people are zombies on the narcotic amounts used to keep people comfortable. I am a hospice nurse, and you would be surprised how high pain medication dosing people tolerate when they need it. I am very sorry about your friend. My experience with people with her type of disease is that it is easily managed with what I consider lower doses of narcotic. People her age with children often suffer from what we call soul pain though, and that is tough to treat. I would hope when she stops aggressive treatment she hooks up with hospice. There are many benefits for the families also including bereavement programs for her children.

to drugs, but, as someone who has a very sensitive system, they make me totally incoherant. I was bedridden for over six months with a broken back and couldn't even think straight enough to read or write or really even watch tv. I was a zombie, but aware enough that I was a zombie that I became enormously depressed. I, finally, got my terrible doctors to switch me over to some non-narcotic painkillers and that helped a bit, but I still wasn't mentally or emotionall myself until I just refused to keep taking the drugs and decided I'd rather be in pain than not be able to think.

I have an ex who is a heroin addict. I have several friends who are regular recreational pill poppers. They all seem to enjoy the downer effects. I find it completely incapacitating.

pain meds aren't morphine and oxycodone, and even those can be dosed very low and still be helpful. Drug addicts take medications for different reasons. Many people, not even on hospice, can't function without them. There are always some people who can't tolerate any drugs but that doesn't mean they will die in pain. There are non pharmological ways to reduce or eliminate pain such as massage, music, acupuncture, and others. Also medical interventions such as nerve blocks.

Will do.

:cry: