Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Dying is a bugger

NHS Blog Doctor has this to say:

Dying is a bugger.

It is unpleasant. It often involves discomfort. It is the loneliest experience you will ever go through. It is heart-breaking for you and your family.

It is a real bugger.

But let us not sweep it under the carpet and rush you off to the hospice where death can be processed and packaged. Out of sight. Out of mind.

Hospices remove death from life. They sanitise it. We have already removed birth from life in the UK. Obstetric medical services are currently set up so that no one in their right mind has a home delivery. It does not have to be like that. Now the same is happening to death.

Be realistic about dying. It is not pleasurable. It is not fun. There may be some physically painful times, though these can nearly always be controlled medically. There will be some emotionally painful times. These can not be controlled so easily. You will be sad. You will be lonely. Ideally, you will be at home, surrounded by your family, supported by the family doctor, the district nurses, the Marie Curie nurses and the local vicar or priest. If that is not possible, you will be in the hospice.

There will be some bad times. Times of deep sadness and despair. There will also be some good times, some quality times. Not in any transcendental and philosophical way, but in terms of precious time spent with family and friends.

Whatever else is going on, that is too good to miss. Do not throw it away. And do not ask me to help you throw it away.

4 comments:

Sue said...

Excellent! I fulsomely agree.

I kind of look forward to dying in one way, just because it's like the ultimate ride, you know? :) LOL Oh that I will be that brave when it is on my doorstep.

Surely learning to die well is some sort of art? My auntie inspired me the way she died, seriously. We shove all this stuff away from ourselves and what are we left with? Some kind of crazy freak show.

(I think I've been watcing too much television. Watching any kind of free to air commercial televsion for longer than 3 minutes makes me believe that the world is going to eat it's own head really soon. So thanks for this, it was good :)

goodfornowt said...

I'm glad this got you going, Sue. A joker once said that the best thing about dying is that it's something you can do just as well lying down.
I have this feeling, which I don't want to have tested for a long time, that dying will suit those of us who are not good at doing more than one thing at a time. I reckon that dying will, in the end, keep me singly and fully occupied.

Sue said...

That's funny you should say so because I have just been having a discussion somewhere else about how hard it is to do only one thing at a time (here if you're interested http://barefoottowardthelight.blogspot.com/2008/12/stretching-time.html

Haha :)

goodfornowt said...

Thanks Sue. I've linked to this in a later post.