Considering the end…

When my mother’s ALS progressed to the point where she could barely breathe and she went into hospice, she was terrified that she would die by suffocation.  I personally can’t imagine a much more terrible end myself.  We called in the doctor and social worker and they explained that if mom wanted them to, they could give her enough drugs to keep her comfortable, and explained what would happen, why it would happen and what she would feel (or not feel) as it happened.

After that conversation she was much more at ease, and was able to focus on spending her last couple of weeks seeing her friends and family instead of shivering in terror 24 hours a day.

That’s kind of like the end of life counseling so many people are slamming.  The idea that these visits could be paid for, allowing more people to have access to them, to understand what was happening with their bodies and how to prepare, the idea that this is somehow terrible is baffling to me.

If someone had told my mother she couldn’t have that conversation that relieved so much of her anxiety because a politician wanted to use it for completely mistated political reasons, that person would have been missing limbs.  Considering how loved my mother was and is, that person might have needed end of life counseling himself.

These counseling services are not “death panels.”  Imagine being very old or very sick and not knowing what was coming.  Being unprepared for death and not knowing about living wills, trusts and how to help prepare family members.  Wouldn’t you be scared as hell?

Considering there wasn’t a mandate for these services – you could choose to have one or not – and no language amounting to making sure seniors kick the bucket as soon as possible, and considering how wholey beneficial and soul-saving these sessions can be, I only have one thing to say to the people who are using end of life counseling as a misrepresented fear tactic for political gain:

How dare you.