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At 12:33 PM 3/25/97 -0500, you wrote: >At 10:41 am 25/03/97 -0500, [log in to unmask] wrote: >>I understand how others on the list do not appreciate this message or >>the one that prompted it, but I have read this list for four years and this >>is the first time anything useful has been said in regards to end stages >>of these diseases. Everyone else is too young or not this far >>progressed and they refuse for this subject context to get anywhere >>near 'THEIR LIST'. Well, we all have problems, we all have stages, and >>some of you may or may not get to these stages, but why is this list >>only for the fit patients, why isn't it for the ones who need the help most >>urgently? Why would anyone want to deny a dying person information >>as to the last stages of their disease, is it only so they can deny they >>may reach the same? Don't you all need to know this is possible and >>shouldn't you all have a living will stating your wishes? I can promise >>you that had Neida understood these back when she could talk or walk >>or write - she would have made her own wishes known in a living will, >>not only for herself - but also to prevent her children from having to >>agonize over them now. > >Dear Louise, > I am in early stage Parkinson's, and though reading letters like >yours and Ray's are somewhat unsettling, I am sorry that you feel this kind >of information is not wanted on this list. No, end stage PD is not a pretty >story, but realistically, once diagnosed, it is an end we must all face, >like it or not. True, we younger ones, and early stage PWP want to be >optimistic and hope that a cure is just around the corner, and the knowledge >gleaned from others is most beneficial. > However, IMHO, this list should not, and is not just for the fit >patients, and it should be for anyone in any circumstance who needs help >urgently or not with a Parkinson's situation. > In 1977, my elderly Mother had a stroke, and my family was asked by >the attending physician in the Emergency Department, if we wanted a DNR >order written on her chart. Our decision was - yes, because we knew that's >what our Mother would have wanted. > In 1993, my husband and I went through a horrific weekend after >finding my older sister lying at the top of the stairs in her home, having >suffered a stroke and in a diabetic coma. After she was admitted to ICU, the >doctors put her on life support without asking me, even though it had been >made quite clear that there was little hope for recovery. Finally on the >Sunday afternoon I told the resident in ICU that this situation could not >continue. By that time, one of my brothers had arrived and he agreed. The >resident simply asked, "What would your sister want?" We said, "She would >want to be let go." These decisions are not easy, but as Ray said, "when you >get to the stage where you are asked to sign a DNR statement, to do so is >the more merciful act." > My heart goes out to everyone who must face this situation. > >Judith hello judith you where right. as i had pd for 25yrs. won,t take the time to tell you all i do,and meds i take. you can email me. we sent for some more tulips. can we ger them in good u.s.a.? thank you for them. don I.Y.Q.