Three little letters
Each on its own benign
November, Delta, Romeo
Short and anodyne.
But once in combination
In your heart strike fear
And three that you will never
Ever want to hear.
Three letters that will haunt you
You’ll bear for life the scar
In memory of the time they asked
Your views on DNR.
Great poem! My mom was at home in bed, dying from end stage kidney disease, but not yet on hospice. She started having a heart attack; my brother called an ambulance; we couldn't find her DNR paper; she was revived by paramedics; off she went to the hospital & ended up living a couple more weeks. When she was again back home & dying (with some post-heart-attack loss of mental capacity), she told my husband "I was dying & I liked it, but then they came & pounded on me & I didn't like it." God bless the option of DNR when we are falling apart & dying! (just gotta remember to put the DNR paper on the frig so paramedics can see it).
You've struck a nerve with this one, John. Uilleam puts the argument very well. I suppose the 'slippery slope' issue would be raised on the other side, although it's not an either/or question. A big subject, if there ever was one.
Huge ethical questions, Uilleam.
Sat 7th Jan 2023 13:01
You raise a very important, thought-provoking and sobering question John.
Only a few minutes ago, I recieved the sad news that a fellow pub-goer we last saw 3 months ago, had passed away in hopital having been seriously ill.
I only knew him from the pub: but I would not have wanted him to suffer needlessly, physically or mentally, and of course his children wouldn't either.
I've debated this subject several times with friends, and we all arrived at the question: why is it that we would willingly put a dearly beloved pet dog / cat etc... out of its suffering, yet we object (for ethical / religious reasons....?) to extending the same privilege to our fellow human beings?
Of course, given the current political world, it wouldn't surprise me in the least, if a policy of DNR became routine for purely economic reasons.
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John Coopey
Sat 7th Jan 2023 17:19
Thankyou for your thoughts, Stephen and Helene. It is indeed an awful burden for a next of kin to bear.
And for the Like, Frederick.