If your time comes..

smartieplum

Registered User
Jul 29, 2014
259
0
After looking after mum, if I ever develop this hateful disease, I don't want to hang on. Dreadful for both patient and carer. This view may not be popular but it's how I feel.
 

loveahug

Registered User
Nov 28, 2012
1,071
0
Moved to Leicester
Hi smartieplum I'm with you on this one but.... If you're happy in yourself and you don't know you have a problem then that would be ok, wouldn't it? I would hate to be continually distressed but if that is just a transition phase into happy mode then that's ok with me too. Problem is I have no way of knowing and wouldn't trust anyone to take a euthenasia decision on my behalf because they might be wrong :confused:
 

MrsTerryN

Registered User
Dec 17, 2012
769
0
Smartie to a degree I think it depends on whether the disease distresses. My mum is constantly distressed with delusions and paranoia. I hope one way or another it changes for her.
On the hand in mums nursing home there are some very contented residents.
If I was contented and able to have chocolate then that is OK. It is just the horror part I wonder about
 

Risa

Registered User
Apr 13, 2015
479
0
Essex
Having watched our grandmother and now our mother get diagnosed with dementia, my sister and I just pray that genetic testing becomes available for the disease within the next few years. My sister and I are both control freaks and one of the hardest things has been to make decisions on behalf of our Mum, which just doesn't feel right as she was always someone who knew her own mind and was very independent.

If we knew at an early stage what the future held, it would allow us to plan for our own futures.
 

Witzend

Registered User
Aug 29, 2007
4,283
0
SW London
Even if I was contented I would not want to live with shattered dignity, no clue about anything, never mind incontinence. I would hate to be a burden or a worry to my children and I really hate the thought of money I would want them to have eventually, going on care home fees.

My Living Will states that if I develop dementia, or am unable for any other reason to care for myself and express my my wishes, I do NOT want any medication or interventions to keep me going. I certainly do not want to be stuffed with a load of pills every day to keep me 'healthy', if that would ensure that I live longer with dementia.

I have an absolute horror of ending up like my mother, who was 97 and in a most pitiful state, zero dignity, and not knowing any of her family for at least a couple of years before she died. It's not as if she was ever contented once she had dementia, either - she wasn't. So often anxious or fretful, usually about things she could not even name. She was like this for so many years - until her dementia got so bad that she was no longer really aware of anything. What sort of a life is that?
 

sisu

Registered User
Nov 15, 2015
7
0
Germany, Munich
If one day genetic tests are available I'll have a front-row seat for that. With both parents now suffering from dementia my prospects are .. well :eek: In any case I'm saving up for a potential appointment with my friends in Switzerland (= Dignitas) as I don't have kids who could take care, nor the money to afford a care home. Great outlook, really :D
 

LYN T

Registered User
Aug 30, 2012
6,958
0
Brixham Devon
I've made my wishes very clear that if I get Dementia I want to be taken care of in a CH. I don't want my Dau to be my Carer. I want no life prolonging intervention either. When I was witness to what my Husband went through enough said.

I would welcome the chance to meet up with Pete again.

This is just my personal view. I hope it doesn't offend

Lyn T XX
 

stanleypj

Registered User
Dec 8, 2011
10,712
0
North West
Inevitably, I think. people's view on this topic are likely to be influenced by their own experiences of seeing how dementia affected a loved one. My mum died peacefully having spent several years quite contentedly in a care home. Some other people with dementia die in this way. I suspect such people, and their loved ones, would not have wanted to die before their eventual end. Their loved ones would perhaps also be less likely to want euthanasia for themselves.

However, I can well understand that watching the horrible decline and tormented death of a loved one would lead someone to a different conclusion.
 

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