Giving information to someone who is terminally ill

[MrsMoose]

This isn't about dementia.

But I was at work. (I do a part-time job in a library.)

A man in his mid-seventies leaned over the counter and said he wanted information about 'the place where they help you to die.'

I took him round to the enquiry desk, looked up Dignitas on the internet - and gave him the phone number and address. He didn't have a computer or know how to use one.

He told me about his advanced cancer and how there would be a point where he didn't want any treatment.

We chatted a bit while I found out the various things he wanted to know, and wrote them down for him.

Then he shook my hand and told me his name, and I told him mine.

It made me feel a bit shaky. My father died of cancer seven years ago and now my father-in-law has dementia.

I just thought that as people here are dealing with an illness that can't be cured, this was a place where I could share this...

Thanks

 

[susy]

I'm glad you can share this. What a stressful thing for you to deal with. You handled it professionally and so caring too. I'm hoping this gentleman finds peace in whatever he decides to do.

 

[marionq]

He wanted information and you gave it without moralising. That was the correct thing to do and admirable in how you did it. Future generations will wonder why we were so squeamish about facing up to such decisions.