tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post7649360675747781707..comments2024-03-22T00:30:09.536-07:00Comments on The Neurocritic: Limbaugh/Palin "death panels" extend the lives of terminally ill patientsThe Neurocritichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-75225769404130941232010-09-22T05:29:42.517-07:002010-09-22T05:29:42.517-07:00To Neurocritic:
At the risk of being misunderstoo...To Neurocritic:<br /><br />At the risk of being misunderstood by those who will read my comments only superficially...<br /><br />I am _happy_ for you... to read of your father's death. By your own description, he and those who cared about him most achieved success in "squaring the curve" - - i.e., maintaining a "normal life" for as long as possible during his terminal illness... then surviving for a _short_ period of time when the clinical consequences of mestastic lung cancer made it impossible to live that "normal life" further, as you, he and others perceive it.<br /><br />Although you do not describe details of his final day(s)/week(s), I will assume the positive... that he died _where_ he wanted to be (or in the alternative, perhaps... did not know or care where he was), that his fears, pains, dyspnea and/or other discomforts were optimally relieved, and that he was surrounded by those who mattered most... at the _time_ that mattered most, to him.<br /><br />Others imply that your "loss" occurred on September 6 when he stopped breathing. I cannot help believe that you knew the beginning of the loss a year earlier. You were always going to "lose" your father (or at least his breathing heart-beating body). The day that the "loss" reached "100 percent" is just barely a day to extend condolences to you - - only slightly more than any of the previous 365 days.<br /><br />Once again, I am _happy_ for you and for others in your father's world... who have found the peace that comes from a strong and rational understanding of this final phase of your father's life.<br /><br />Best wishes,<br /><br />Rex Bickers, M.D.<br />neonatologist<br />IndianaUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03054876783337289995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-39752622750249278892010-09-22T04:36:18.567-07:002010-09-22T04:36:18.567-07:00So sorry to read about the loss of your dad. Thank...So sorry to read about the loss of your dad. Thank you for posting about the NEJM research study and the "death panel" canard. According to a new AP poll (http://bit.ly/c0RvnZ), a quarter of Americans still think the health care law includes "death panels". That ugly myth infuriates me personally and professionally, and every effort to debunk it is worthwhile. -- Jim Siegel from HealthCare Chaplaincy in New YorkJim Siegelhttp://jsiegel@healthcarechaplaincy.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-19478040018865406822010-09-14T09:28:46.941-07:002010-09-14T09:28:46.941-07:00Neurocritic - I'm sorry to hear of your loss -...Neurocritic - I'm sorry to hear of your loss - I really appreciate your willingness to share your personal connection to this issue, and to unite your analytic and emotional perspectives.socialprimatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09237309490920263769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-60360865862902365142010-09-10T07:50:00.859-07:002010-09-10T07:50:00.859-07:00I lost my grandmother to lung cancer when I was 8,...I lost my grandmother to lung cancer when I was 8, and I would have done anything to ease the last months of her life. I still think about her every day, thirty odd years later. <br /><br />I know there is nothing I could possibly say to make it easier for you to move through this time. But I wish, somehow, there was.Jennigmahttp://www.jennigma.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-68186524623325646292010-09-09T21:48:12.823-07:002010-09-09T21:48:12.823-07:00Thank you all for the condolences.Thank you all for the condolences.The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-13191595050252421832010-09-07T14:47:35.406-07:002010-09-07T14:47:35.406-07:00Thank you, Neurocritic, for your honest and thorou...Thank you, Neurocritic, for your honest and thorough comments regarding palliative care. Like you, experiences with my elderly parents inspired me to become informed and to share with others how to experience greater peace at the inevitable end of life.<br /><br />Sending you warm regards as you mourn the loss of your dad.Liza Elyhttp://www.centerofwellbeing.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-71401680211519581302010-09-07T08:58:47.535-07:002010-09-07T08:58:47.535-07:00Dear Neurocritic, my condolences regarding the los...Dear Neurocritic, my condolences regarding the loss of your father. He would be very proud of you for writing this column, I am quite sure.Matthew J Brockwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17839747402330030216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-77321122209539368462010-09-07T08:19:53.693-07:002010-09-07T08:19:53.693-07:00Sorry to hear about your dad's passing. You h...Sorry to hear about your dad's passing. You have a great blog ,though, keep up the good work.jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14972394536850151087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-11921432601355969312010-09-06T22:15:12.085-07:002010-09-06T22:15:12.085-07:00Very, very sorry to hear about the loss of your fa...Very, very sorry to hear about the loss of your father. Even though the loss stays with us, so do they - if that's any consolation at all.<br /><br />FWIW, for some people there is significant anger (which I call rage) after the fact. If you find yourself furiously angry with not-exactly-innocent bystanders, chalk it up to that.<br /><br />Best wishes and again, sorry for your loss.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-47809329845743993082010-09-06T21:30:40.387-07:002010-09-06T21:30:40.387-07:00Kitty and Jon Newman,
Thank you very much. I appr...Kitty and Jon Newman,<br /><br />Thank you very much. I appreciate it.The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-20425529148106043112010-09-06T20:22:57.755-07:002010-09-06T20:22:57.755-07:00Neurocritic,
Your post went through me as I read ...Neurocritic,<br /><br />Your post went through me as I read it. My condolences to your and your family. <br /><br />Thank you for the work you do here. <br /><br />Jon NewmanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-19756704709957977242010-09-06T19:51:42.217-07:002010-09-06T19:51:42.217-07:00Neurocritic,
Thanks for your informative post. K...Neurocritic,<br /><br />Thanks for your informative post. Keep up the good work. I am sorry to hear about your father.Kittynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-54638247425127169002010-09-06T18:41:50.456-07:002010-09-06T18:41:50.456-07:00YOU and your pathetic misguided ilk are the ones t...YOU and your pathetic misguided ilk are the ones trying to obfuscate the issue. "Death panels" do NOT exist in England and the Netherlands. In fact, YOU are acting as a death panel for the uninsured. Do you plan to pay all medical care for the uninsured out of your own pocket? If not, then who will, besides the government? Oops, looks like you've just condemned them to die.<br /><br />As for your false accusation that palliative care is a separate issue, the only measure that would have been included in the health care bill was "provisions to have Medicare and insurers pay for <i><b>optional</b></i> consultations with doctors on palliative and hospice care." <br /><br />So you're NOT in favor of alleviating the suffering of dying patients with completely incurable diseases? Metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer is inevitably fatal. There is no cure. It involves an excruciating amount of pain. Are you prepared to prolong the suffering of a terminally ill family member, rather than opt for consultation with palliative and hospice care, whose main purpose is to alleviate suffering and improve quality of life?<br /><br />My father freely chose to live his final days in hospice. It's what he wanted. What I want as a neuroscientist is the use of all currently available drugs to help control pain at the end of life, as well as the development of new and better drugs. It's an issue my father wanted me to promote. "Get the word out," he said.The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-59440700583834161322010-09-06T10:11:22.133-07:002010-09-06T10:11:22.133-07:00The death panels are not a lie, they are something...The death panels are not a lie, they are something that will happen if the scheme to socialize medicine (which is the inevitable end result of the disaster Obama is cooking up) succeeds. <br /><br />Death panels already exist in England, Holland and other countries with socialized medicine. People are allowed to die if they are not deemed valuable enough in terms of how much more taxes and votes they can hand over to the government. This of course was routine in the Soviet Union and has become routine in most of Europe as it has followed the USSR's economic programs a bit at a time.<br /><br />Palliative care has nothing to do with the inevitability of governments cutting costs by letting people die.<br /><br />Stop trying to obfuscate the issue, you're not fooling anyone. Socialized medicine, currently euphemized as "universal health care", means the murder-by-neglect of anyone the government doesn't feel like keeping alive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com