Dear Margaret,
Thankyou for seeing this, because I am not able to stay on top of following-up on so many newspapers.
I’m really amazed to see this, because the editor actually clarified the point for me. I mentioned this to Alex a couple of days ago, because I had a glitch with my computer, and wanted to get it off, before I had another browser problem.
This shows me, that there still are newspaper staffers out there, who do their best to give equal voice for Canadians to learn both sides of political issues.
My comment is not intended to imply that people here are intentionally being murdered. If anyone ever was, I would not even want to know about it. If I knew about such an event, I would have to take legal action against it.
The problem is, that the system itself which is prevalent in this long-term care unit of the MUHC, is conducive to convenient fatal-accidents. An example is, the call-bell inter-com at the nurses’ desk.:
Some nurses don’t want workers to hear the bell, when they are working in the rooms. Their excuse, which I have argued several times through the years, involves their supposed concern about disturbing the poor patients who want to sleep. I have always assured them, that they couldn’t care less about the poor sleeping patients who don’t want to be disturbed. Their real concern, is that they want their workers to take as much time as they feel like with one patient.
This seems like it is being considerate to patients, maybe to “favorite patients”.–It is a danger to any patient who might have a life-and-death emergency, because nobody is at the nurses’ station to respond to the emergency. In long-term, there are definitely periods where nobody is at the desk to hear a bell, when they turn the volume off in the hall speakers. During those times, only when somebody is at the station, can they hear a bell.
In my situation, I have recovered as much as I ever will from my last respiratory-failure in 2006. I am able to go longer periods without oxygen now, but could never check-out of here to rent an apartment again, and have home-care workers. Several times, administration has made moves to evict me to a worse concentration camp, and I would never tolerate a repeat of what I have tolerated here.
So, I have struck a co-tolerance with everybody here.–And we’ve known one another for a long time now. If I could find a girlfriend to live with, I would move out of here real quick.–And under those circumstances, it would work to organize home-care services at an apartment.
My message to Canadians in the paper, is that people die around me regularly, and their deaths are dignified much more when they receive palliative-care, and proper end-of-life care. Legalizing euthanasia/assaisted-suicide, would drastically escalate misbehavioural attitudes some nurses have here.
The only real improvements I would like to see here, to improve the “living with dignity” model, is for better manners by all the nurses and PA’s. An example:
After their initial report-session beginning their shift, that they would get around to introduce themselves. Also, during their shifts, they could a little more politely respond to bells, instead of turning them off and go to their back room, to sit on their asses. Sometimes they sit around to chat and laugh with each other, until they feel like answering a bell.
It used to be a big problem here, but improved for awhile. Recently, things have started slipping back to old habits, but in long-term, these are the things I’ve argued over through the years, and about sanitary issues.
On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 5:17 PM, Margaret Dorewrote:
http://www.epcbc.ca/2012/01/what-i-have-witnessed-will-change-any.html
“What I have witnessed will change any Canadian’s opinion in a hurry”
Published in the National Post: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/01/04/todays-letters-e-cigarettes-will-still-prove-deadly-to-smokers/
The poll conducted by Forum Research further exploited voters’ own fear of their personal uncertain future. If the poll question was: “If evidence found that close to 50% of the legalized deaths are without consent, would you still legalize euthanasia/assisted-suicide?,” I guarantee that the poll would show drastically different results.
I have had to live in a long-term care facility since 2000. What I have witnessed here will change any Canadian’s opinion in a hurry.
Robert Greig, Montreal
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