The Curious Autodidact

Let me first say I had no idea that Good Housekeeping Magazine was still being published. For someone my age who grew up with the Good Housekeeping seal of approval it came as a surprise. Then let me say I thought I’d see flying pigs before I’d see this type of story featured there but indeed it was a pleasant surprise someone who had worked in the decent death movement as I have. This is the story of Jennifer Glass and her activism to make Death with Dignity the law in California and beyond. Then today the same day this story about John Jay Hooker, a Tennessee man with similar convictions. This on the heels of this terrific segment on the Diane Rehm show yesterday featuring one of my heroes Barbara Coombs Lee who is not only a trained nurse practitioner but also a lawyer. She is one of the crafters of the 18-year-old Oregon Death with Dignity Law. For those that don’t know Diane’s husband died after stopping eating and drinking this past fall after finding his days with Parkinson’s Disease were not worth it any longer. He had sought help from his doctor who told him there wasn’t much to be done, this incensed both John and his wife Diane and she is working to continue this dialogue. The point was brought up should these decisions be the patients or left in the hands of the medical profession? I found Dr. Byock’s comments interesting but I wondered if he has ever sat at the bedside of someone with pancreatic cancer as I have. It is a brutal way to go and the ability to quell the suffering and pain lack efficacy. Here is another older article from the New York Review of Books that also may edify you further. I think we have gained traction in our quest to make end of life choice a part of the national dialogue, many thanks to Brittany Maynard and her family for their many appearances that helped bring this forward.