Euthanasia and Cancer

Peter is a 64-year-old who decided to take early retirement to enjoy life and not work so hard. He decided it was time to enjoy his grandchildren and like any other typical retiree enjoy traveling. Recently having built a house in Morelos, Mexico it was time to enjoy it. Peter has always been the life of the party. Anyone who meets him instantly falls in love with the person he is. He is a hard worker, compassionate, very dependable person. He will take the shirt off his back to help you. As you get older you start feeling the aches and pain that comes along with aging and Peter was starting to feel it or so he thought it was from aging. After a routine checkup he is told to immediately go to the hospital there was something abnormal in his blood work.

After spending four days in the hospital going through many testing, Peter is given the worst news you can possibly get. Three words you never want to hear come out of your doctor’s mouth “ You have cancer”. Being diagnosed with a terminal disease can be devastating not only for the patient but also for the family and friends. After overcoming from the initial shock you want many answers to questions you might have. Many questions will remain unanswered or it is not the response you were hoping for. All you know is that being diagnosed with a terminal disease, the end result is going to be death. Therefore, Euthanasia should be offered and allowed for these cases. The three main reasons why Euthanasia should be allowed are these patients have no chance of recovery, shortens suffering, and after all, they have the right to a “good death”.

Being diagnosed with a terminal disease basically means there is no cure and no chance of recovering from the illness. There is no nice or easy way a doctor can give you such devastating news. Many feelings run through your body. Feelings of anger, sadness, and denial are the most common. Your body feels numb, you have tunnel vision, and it seems as if you can not comprehend anything else after being told you are dying. Many can not process the thought of having a painful death. These deaths of a terminal ill patient are not only painful for the patient but also for the family and friends. There is no right or wrong way to deal with death. Just like there is no correct way to react to the diagnosis. Priorities will need to be put in place and decisions will need to be made.

For many talking about planning your funeral is like the big elephant in the room, you simply don’t want to acknowledge it. That is when Euthanasia is usually considered. According to Wikipedia Euthanasia comes from the Greek word “eu” meaning “good” and “Thanatos” meaning “death”. (Wikipedia 2018) The definition is “ the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering”. (Wikipedia 2018)Everyone wants to have a “good death” or painless one. Dying in your sleep is a good example of a good death or even a sudden death can be considered good because it is quick and you do not feel it. Euthanasia allows the doctor, with the patient’s consent, to administer a lethal dose of medication which ends the suffering and the patient dies. The first time it was actually used in medical context was by Francis Bacon in the 17th Century. (Wikipedia 2018).

Additionally, I now understand that I am dying and I am living. Dying is a part of living and living is a part of dying. Every day I remind myself that knowing I am dying offers me the opportunity to be my best self, to spend the time I have left by living fully in the present.

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