NationStates Jolt Archive

You are 65 years old and you were just diagnosed with stage four metastatic lung cancer (cancer that has spread to other parts of your body and is pretty much untreatable at that time). Your doctor gives you six months to live. You have the choice as to how you live out the remainder of your life. What do you do next?

* Aggressive treatment- try to fight it
* Pain management
* Hospice care
* Home care
* Hospital Care
* Assisted suicide (assuming it is legal)
* Nothing- just live your life as you did prior to your death sentence

Choose one.
Explain why you have chosen that option.


NOTE: This was designed from options discussed in my Health Care Systems class.....the options stated are the only options that I can delve into. Answer those options only, since it is the entire context and premise of this thread. Otherwise, this thread is rather useless so no information can be extracted from it.

ANSWER THE QUESTION AS IT WAS DESIGNED OR DO NOT POST AT ALL.

Assissted suicide. Not that I would need someone to assist me.

aw there is no "other option?" because i would have the time of my life with the last 6 months of my life...

but from those choices, i would do the aggressive treatment. i would not want to just sit there and die. i would actually like to go out fighting...

I believe you have forgotten the wild crazy daredevil lifestyle that most of us would begin living. In essence, daring death to take you early by doing everything you always wanted to do but were afraid to.

When I was down to a couple of weeks, I would rob a bank, just because I always wanted to. Why shouldn't I, after all?

You are 65 years old and you were just diagnosed with stage four metastatic lung cancer. Your doctor gives you six months to live. You have the choice as to how you live out the remainder of your life. What do you do next?

* Aggressive treatment- try to fight it
* Pain management
* Hospice care
* Home care
* Hospital Care
* Assisted suicide (assuming it is legal)
* Nothing- just live your life as you did prior to your death sentence


* Two women at the same time

* Sex with two women at the same time

why not three? go out with a bang...

Simple i'd kill every single member of the BNP and combat 18 I could get my hands on (die nazi scum die)

I'd kill certain political figures (assuming that people like George W. Bush are still around when I'm 65, which they probably will be), and become a total hedonist before killing myself.

Hmm I think it would involve a flight to amsterdam, first class goin over frieght coming back. I think the cause of death would have to be corinary orgasmozis. Good old hookers and drugs.

at 65 id fight it. id take an extreme course of chemotherapy in case it might actually help. quite often 6 months turns into years.

at 75 i might feel differently depending on my health otherwise and how bad the effects of the chemo would be.

Answer The Question As It Was Designed Or Do Not Respond.

Simply live however I want for as long as I can until I'm too sick and then I'd go with assisted suicide.

Answer The Question As It Was Designed Or Do Not Respond.
Bastard! IT'S MY TYPING STYLE! THOUT SHALT NOT STEAL THE ALMIGHT RITLINA'S TYPING STYLE! I SHALT SMITE THEE!

Answer The Question As It Was Designed Or Do Not Respond.

most people dont like to follow the rules. its to be expected...

Thank you very much for the kindness of your permission to post in your proprietary thread on this public forum.


Party till I drop.

Your sixty five and dieing who cares if you follow the rules.

Answer The Question As It Was Designed Or Do Not Respond.

If you don't have an "Other" option than many people seem to lose all sanity. People are really needy of that "Other" option you know.

If you don't have an "Other" option than many people seem to lose all sanity. People are really needy of that "Other" option you know.


Has there ever been sanity in the NS General forum with or without the "other" option?

Has there ever been sanity in the NS General forum with or without the "other" option?

Negative. Some of us just have to express our own opinions, and we will do so even if the poll options do not allow it.

All right, assisted suicide. Because I'm a pessimist.

If you have to go, make your death count! :sniper:

(But I'd probably end up just sticking to some sort of routine until my death)

You are 65 years old and you were just diagnosed with stage four metastatic lung cancer (cancer that has spread to other parts of your body and is pretty much untreatable at that time). Your doctor gives you six months to live. You have the choice as to how you live out the remainder of your life. What do you do next?


* Pain management
* Hospice care
* Home care
* Hospital Care
* Assisted suicide (assuming it is legal)
* Nothing- just live your life as you did prior to your death sentence

Choose one.
Explain why you have chosen that option.

Aggressive treatment- try to fight it

It's part of who I am to do my best to survive. In fact, one of the first things I said to my doctor when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer was, "Go after this shit. Be as aggressive as possible."

To me, there are many times when life = struggle. I probably understand this better for having lived through things that might crush someone who wasn't a fighter. "Never give up! Never surrender! Never say 'die!' And take NO prisoners!"

Something will get me eventually, but I won't go down without one hell of a fight. :)

Having seen my husband battle & survive (!) cancer, I can say that I think the answer would depend on a multitude of factors including the current state of my health (i.e., do I feel good or bad now). Even considering that - I would choose the last option - live my life out as I was, although with a few minor changes - and make sure that I would live life to it's fullest. Since there is no "real" hope of beating the odds (although where there is life, there is hope) I would live each day until the end. Choosing to "fight" the cancer would only realistically weaken me and probably give me less time or at the very most less "quality time". Choosing pain management would mean that I would be on pretty much in "la la" land and not able to enjoy the time I had left. Hospital, Home or Hospice Care I might consider when the end became imminent, however those three options would admit defeat. And, as I said before, where there is life, there is hope. Therefore, I'd take a trip that I wanted to, spend time the way I wanted to and do those things that I never dared to do. No treatment - but I'd make sure that those things I wanted to do were accomplished.

Your sixty five and dieing who cares if you follow the rules.
Heh! Exactly!

And I'll go you one better ... I'll be 63 next month and have ( as far as I can tell right now ) no serious health problems, and I don't give a frakking DAMN if I follow "the rules" or not! :D

If you have to go, make your death count! :sniper:

(But I'd probably end up just sticking to some sort of routine until my death)
Homicide bomber! :mp5:

* Assisted suicide (assuming it is legal)

Of course I'd wait till the last moment to do this.. For six months I would be spending all of my time going to different places, drinking all the booze, and moving on to the next country.

In the end, when it's too much to take, I'll decide my life is over. My life will be complete.

If you don't have an "Other" option than many people seem to lose all sanity. People are really needy of that "Other" option you know.
Or the "Myrth" option.

Or the "Myrth" option.
What IS Myrth anyways?

Id make up my own rules in public forums to annoy people with, then Id commit suicide when they failed to respect my authority

I don't think I'd do any of those. I'd accept that I'm going to die, and make sure that before do go, I'm going to go out with a bang.

In all seriousness, I would go on a vigilante crusade killing all people I consider to be worthy of execution. By the time the police would find that it was me, I'd be dead. Win-Win-Win. I don't get into prison, society gets a little clean up, Cops get to stay the good guys.

I'd be remembered for something. That's what I would do.

I would just go out with the biggest bang I could...

I don't think I'd do any of those. I'd accept that I'm going to die, and make sure that before do go, I'm going to go out with a bang.

In all seriousness, I would go on a vigilante crusade killing all people I consider to be worthy of execution. By the time the police would find that it was me, I'd be dead. Win-Win-Win. I don't get into prison, society gets a little clean up, Cops get to stay the good guys.

I'd be remembered for something. That's what I would do.
^^^His third Cousin did the Port Adelaide massacre.:sniper:

Answer The Question As It Was Designed Or Do Not Respond.What, so you can just copy the answer over into your essay? :cool:

Hm, stage four lung, metsed...

First things first, I'm getting a second opinion, including additional diagnostics and complete restaging of the cancer. What I do in response depends on the type of tumors involved and location of the metastices. Assuming the worst:

* Aggressive treatment- short course of therapy, if and only if, one of the tumors needs shrinking in order to make me more comfortable. Otherwise, who needs chemobrain and radiation burns, or to be sick from the chemo for what little time you have.

* Pain management- you betcha, early and often. And don't screw me with the codeine crap. We're going straight to oxycontin, followed by a fentanyl patch when it becomes appropriate, with fentanyl lollipops for breakthrough pain.

* Hospice care- absolutely. These people have a better grasp on what you're going through, and most importantly aren't going to take it as a personal affront when you die. The option of calling a nurse at 2 a.m. in the morning for an emergent breakthrough of pain or other system problem is a Good Thing.

* Home care- yes, in the sense of utilizing hospice at home. No in the sense of using home health care. They're not one in the same (most systems consider them exclusive of each other) and home health care nurses are usually not trained to do hospice care.

* Hospital Care- if need be for other emergent conditions that have nothing to do with the cancer. But when you begin hospice treatment, you basically agree not to go to the hospital.

* Assisted suicide (assuming it is legal)- would honestly depend on the circumstances, though I have nothing against assisted suicide

* Nothing- just live your life as you did prior to your death sentence- well, yes, that too. That's part of the philosophy of hospice. The thing is, you're probably already experiencing restrictions on your "normal" life, else you wouldn't have gone to the doctor and discovered the lung cancer.

I'd just do nothing. Everyone has to die sometime, my time is then. I would just continue on with normal treatment and then have someone take me to White Sands National Monument so I can die inside there. Theres really no point in ending your life early because you can't beat God (or whoever) to the punchline. You are going to die, deal with it. Aggressive treatment would probably just shorten your rate of survival, because at that stage there is uncontrolled cell proliferation throughout your entire body, and there isn't shit anyone can do about it.

Yeah, I'd just die normally.

In the event that I had received my death sentence, I would ride the bull by the haunches in my own home. I would choose home care, perhaps considering Hospice while seeking pain management. I would not seek aggressive treatment nor would I commit suicide, especially if I am going to die in a few months anyway.

For me, sometimes you just need to learn when to die and how to accept the fact that you are going to die no matter how long you try to fight it. Living on a machine is no way for me to live my life, so I would take death ten times over that a machine.

^^^His third Cousin did the Port Adelaide massacre.:sniper:

Don't you mean port arthur? :confused:

Don't you mean port arthur? :confused:
No i am talking about your shit AFL team.Yes i was.
You lost.
Bwhahahahahahahahahahahaha

No i am talking about your shit AFL team.Yes i was.
You lost.
Bwhahahahahahahahahahahaha

I hate Port Adelaide. I want them to lose. :(

What, so you can just copy the answer over into your essay? :cool:


More like so I can easily determine the idiots from intelligent people. ;)

Essays, the only essayish paper I have to write is a ten page minimum research paper on my findings concerning bottled water and microbial life. Fun fun fun, that I have yet to finish. By the way, against the popular belief, bottled water is not antimicrobial. You should have seen my culture plates. *eek*

You are 65 years old and you were just diagnosed with stage four metastatic lung cancer (cancer that has spread to other parts of your body and is pretty much untreatable at that time). Your doctor gives you six months to live. You have the choice as to how you live out the remainder of your life. What do you do next?

* Aggressive treatment- try to fight it
* Pain management
* Hospice care
* Home care
* Hospital Care
* Assisted suicide (assuming it is legal)
* Nothing- just live your life as you did prior to your death sentence

Choose one.
Explain why you have chosen that option.


NOTE: This was designed from options discussed in my Health Care Systems class.....the options stated are the only options that I can delve into. Answer those options only, since it is the entire context and premise of this thread. Otherwise, this thread is rather useless so no information can be extracted from it.

ANSWER THE QUESTION AS IT WAS DESIGNED OR DO NOT POST AT ALL.
Well i have two thoughts one being doing nothing-(The available option)
But going for a swim in Cook Strait would have been/be just as viable.

I hate Port Adelaide. I want them to lose. :(
But Lashie loves them.

* Aggressive treatment- try to fight it

meanwhile, living it up! :D

If there was any hope in recovery, I would go for aggressive treatment, even though it might be painful, debilitating, or futile..

That being said, I see little reason to fight if its that certain that you'll die, and you're 65 years old.. I would spend those last six months with loved ones at home.

But Lashie loves them.

I know.:cool:

I know.:cool:
And you love Lashie.

And you love Lashie.


No.:)

I think I'd live normally, continuing whatever activities I had going. Once I reached the point of not being able to carry on normally, I would go for home care to make me comfortable on my way out.

I think I'd live normally, continuing whatever activities I had going. Once I reached the point of not being able to carry on normally, I would go for home care to make me comfortable on my way out.

That is acceptable, so long as you can clearly explain why, which you have done so appropiately.

And thank you for your answer.

No.:)
http://209.85.12.227/1381/85/emo/wink.gif

http://209.85.12.227/1381/85/emo/wink.gif

:(

:(
Lashie is ever so nice.:)

Lashie is ever so nice.:)

I know that. What's your point.

I know that. What's your point.
Errrm...
Look over there--->
*Hides*
You'll never find me.

Errrm...
Look over there--->
*Hides*
You'll never find me.


At this point I wish I could include in the post the bit in How Not To Be Seen with the three bushes.:D

I love the scream after the middle bush explodes.

At this point I wish I could include in the post the bit in How Not To Be Seen with the three bushes.:D

I love the scream after the middle bush explodes.
If you tried hard enough you could.
Heck make it yourself.

Cliche, but I'll go on a spritial journey and time my arrival to coincide with the innevitable.

We all die someday, knowing when you pass on should be considered a gift.

Is drinking considered assisted Suicide?

I would don a Superman outfit, clutch a rock coated in flourescent green paint, and then jump out of an aircraft over the city centre. With no parachute.

I would don a Superman outfit, clutch a rock coated in flourescent green paint, and then jump out of an aircraft over the city centre. With no parachute.
*Thinks of a plot to kill Kanabia*

What IS Myrth anyways?

Myrth was a moderator on this forum/game a while back, and it became customary to include his name as an option in polls, especially when his name had nothing to do with the question being asked, which was most of the time.

I wouldn't go for treatment if the doctors were certain i was going to die. I think quality of life is more important that quantity and i would not want to spend my final months being sick due to chemo and stuff if it most likely wasn't going to help.

Pain management i would do. I know that some drugs can put you in la-la land which may seem like a bad quality of life, but if you are in so much pain that you can't get out of bed, that won't give you a good quality of life either. Pain meds don't affect everyone the same way, i would just have to hope they could give me some that wouldn't cloud me up too much.

Home care i would do when it got to the point that i couldn't do certain household tasks by myself, but i still had some stuff within my control. Hospice care i would do when i needed round the clock nursing care.

Euthanasia i'm not sure about. I absolutely believe in it for those who feel it's the best option for them, but i will never know that about myself unless i am in that situation. On one hand, i think life is so precious, and there is a huge part of me that would want to hold onto it for as long as i could. On other other hand, if it got to the point where i couldn't get out of bed and have any sort of quality of life, i don't know if i would want to live anymore.

Living out my life as before is what i would do as long as possible. There are places i would like to see before i die, and i would travel to them if i could. Everything else would come when living a normal life is no longer possible.

I hope those answers are okay, it's just impossible for me to choose only one, because most serious illnesses encompass all or most of them. Without home care or nursing care at some point, i would die quicker, and lose any semblance of normalcy sooner. Without pain meds, i may feel like ending the torment. Without the option of euthanasia i might feel like i was forced to endure something i couldn't. Without doing the things i wanted and was still able to, i wouldn't want to be here anyway.