It's like...a survey, yo!

Okay, so I guess I'm in a writing mood. I figured out that there are a bunch of silent readers out there who don't post comments to let me know that they're reading my stuff. But I still love ya. Wow, I'm kinda sounding like a gangsta chick. Enough of that. What I was really getting at is this:

Last night I was the guest speaker at a Death and Dying class taught by one of my co-workers at Brooklyn College. The topic that I chose to discuss was the Right to Die. Basically, physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, etc. I took a poll at the beginning of the class to see who was for Right to Die and who was against it. Then I said my shpiel and asked the people again. I wasn't trying to convince people either way, I thought that I presented each side pretty well, but when asked again, even more people were for it than before. Interesting, huh?? So I want to hear from you as to whether or not you are for Right to Die and why. Here are the two stories that I told the students:

For:

I had a 94-year-old patient who was diagnosed with skin cancer that was taking over the right side of his face. Due to the tumor he was unable to eat or see out of his right eye. His mouth drooped and he drooled. Now a little background. Prior to the diagnosis a few months before I met him, he would get up every morning and go run a mile or two. He and his wife would walk to the beach every day and go dancing. He was extremely active until his cancer progressed. The last day that I saw him before he died, this was the conversation he had with me:

"I just want to die. I've lived 94 good years and I've had my fun, but I'm done. I asked my wife yesterday to go to the next door neighbor and offer him $500 to come over and smother me with a pillow. I've asked my wife to take me to the roof and throw me off. Is there a pill or an injection that the doctor can give me that will just let me die in my sleep? I just can't do this anymore."

Of course ethically and legally we weren't able to give him a pill or an injection to help him die. But did he have the right to either take an overdose of his medication and die?? Does he have the right to control what happens to his body and when?

Against:

I have a 75-year-old patient who has been diagnosed with bladder cancer. He lives alone, has no family and no friends and spends most of his days in a chair in his living room listening to the radio. He is depressed and sees no reason to live. However, he has no interest in taking his life or having someone else help him take his life. Basically, he has no reason to live, but you know what his thought process is? Religion. He thinks that G-d must have a plan for him and if he was meant to die, he would have already, but until G-d decides, he's just going to keep on getting up every morning. He doesn't believe in suicide because it's a sin, and he believes that he's in pain and diagnosed with a terminal illness because he is atoning for the sins of his youth. He also believes that his body belongs to G-d, not him.

Interesting debate, huh? The students debated this last night and came up with really good reasons both for and against "Right to Die" and I was thoroughly impressed. In addition to the interesting debate that was experienced, I enjoyed being in a school setting again, but this time as the teacher, not the student. I think I could really enjoy teaching. It was so weird to have the students clap for me when I was done and even stranger to have people come up to me afterwards and thank me for the educational opportunity that I provided and ask for my business card. When I was in school, I totally thought of those kids as the brown-nosers, but those same types of kids really made me feel good about myself.

So now it's up to you. I really want to hear your thoughts. I expect at LEAST the usual suspects to respond -- Sam, Mom, Marie, Brenda and Ellen - you know who you are!!!! But I'd really like to hear from the others out there too.