Saturday 7 August 2010

Six Word Saturday#21

Describing your Saturday life or thoughts on Show My Face at the moment of writing in a phrase using just six words.

Last Days

In-laws too frail to return home**

** My mother-in-law has severe dementia but with an increasingly frail husband and the care of my sister-in-law they were able to stay at home. We live 300 miles away and the brother-in-law lives in China so if this arrangement broke we had few options left. It did break as my father-in-law had a stroke last month and is still in hospital leaving the sisters trying to juggle care for their mother. It is highly likely that they will now have to move to a Home as they need 24/7 care but this is still not certain, not least because they haven’t agreed. The painful slow collapse of their life has made it clear to me that I will resist attempts of the medical profession to keep me alive when I decide that the quality of my life is lower then I want. Both of my in-laws have had medical interventions – heart surgery and pacemaker – that has prolonged life but undermined its quality. I’m not arguing for euthanasia. although this has it merits, but for a choice of pain control and allowing events to unfold naturally. I’m here to live not to demonstrate the power of western medicine.