[GCFL-discuss] Re: New Advance Directive

[gcfl-discuss at gcfl.net]

On Thu, 12 May 2005 17:31:10 -0400 gcfl-discuss at gcfl.net writes:
Not on life support... What was that tube that was in his neck and why
did he have to wait for the breathing machine to put air in his lungs
before he could speak. Not a Doctor, just asking......
You may be right. I am not only not a doctor, I haven't paid close
attention to Christopher Reeves. Actors don't mean a lot to me -- a
weakness that prevents me from applying to be a Jeopardy contestant.

On the rare occasions I saw Reeves on the news, in a magazine
article/photo, etc., it was obvious that he speaks, me goes places in his
wheelchair, he makes decisions about pursuing therapy -- or he did, up to
the day he died.

I know he was left quadraplegic by his accident, and obviously needed a
lot of help. It is possible that his lung muscles could not actually draw
in enough air consistently enough without some help. Or maybe enough to
absorb oxygen, but not enough to use his vocal cords effectively.

The fact remains, he made his own decisions, decisions that many people
admired him for, and when his body gave out beyond the point of
sustaining itself, he died. Nobody legislated that he should, or should
not, take intensive therapy. Nobody legislated that he should, or should
not, have that tube in his neck, whatever its purpose may have been.
Nobody is going to run for office saying "I co-sponsored the bill that
kept Christopher Reeves hooked up to this or that tube." Which is all
exactly as it should be.

Now the law that provided access to dialysis for anyone who needed it,
that was a good law. It made the means of sustaining life available to
all who would otherwise die. I've driven many such people to their
appointments, or home afterward. They do go home and have a life, and
they consider it worth the pain and inconvenience. On the other hand,
when the elderly and much-admired secretary at my church decided after
several hospitalizations that she wanted no more procedures, she died
peacefully, and pastor preached a eulogy with the theme "I'm sorry, but I
can't stay any longer." She had to go home too.

Siarlys
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