Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Dying and Such Other Problems

"I never knew dying could be so much fun," Art Buchwald, the column writer, wrote last year.

Last February, his doctors told Buchwald because of his kidney problems, he had a few weeks to live. At age 80, Buchwald didn't want to be hooked up to a dialysis machine for the rest of his life. So he checked into a hospice to die on his own terms.

Then something unexpected happened. He didn't die and his kidneys kept working. He left the hospice and went back to his home on Martha's Vineyard to enjoy his time left.

“No one wants to die, but if you were faced with a terminal illness, you would probably pick the way that columnist Art Buchwald died - not by his own hand, but in the way and place he chose.

Then, he started writing again, and the book, "Too Soon to Say Goodbye," came out of this experience.

He still passed away from the same affliction about a month and a half ago.

Art Buchwald did not opt to kill himself, because he didn’t have the legal right to do so, but he still chose the way he died and was able to spend his final days in an atmosphere of comfort, compassion, control and respect.

The argument is if the pain of the final days are too much to bear, a person ought to be able to choose the time and method of his dying. Oregon has laws for that. Oregon's experience with its death with dignity law is instructive. Before it was enacted in 1998, only about 20 percent of terminally ill patients sought hospice care. Today, 54 percent do.

I can see how this idea could be abused, but the death-with-dignity option can be available only to those who want it and meet the qualifications.

Few will likely use it anyhow.

In other words, the goal of the death with dignity legislation is not just giving terminally ill patients a way to kill themselves. It's also about better pain management and greater access to hospice care, so that patients can be comfortable in their final days. It's also about giving the terminally ill the peace of mind of knowing that an early exit is available if the suffering becomes too much.

After having written this much in favor of the idea, if push came to shove and I'd have to make a choice, I would probably let nature take its course, because for some of us, some beliefs are so nailed in that getting around them may become a trauma. I think I'd still go with "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away."

Now, how's that for the paradox of the mind and the heart!