Brittany Maynard Hasn’t Changed Her Mind, But May Delay Decision To Die: ‘I Still Have Enough Joy’

[big_dog]

Source: The Raw Story

A terminally ill woman who went public with her plans to end her life Saturday says she may delay her decision – but she hasn’t changed her mind. Brittany Maynard was diagnosed with brain cancer and given six months to live last spring, and the 29-year-old moved to Oregon with her family to gain access to the state’s Death With Dignity Act. Maynard suffered her worst seizure yet on a recent trip with her husband and family to the Grand Canyon, but she said she’s still able to enjoy life.

She launched an online video campaign earlier this month with the group Compassion & Choices to explain her decision to end her life Nov. 1 with a doctor’s assistance. Maynard said at the time that she might not go through with her plan if a stroke or seizure rendered her incapable of making the decision, or if she woke up “feeling good” – and she repeated her intentions as the date neared. “So if Nov. 2 comes along and I’ve passed, I hope my family is still proud of me and the choices I made,” Maynard said in a new video posted online by People Magazine. “And if Nov. 2 comes along and I’m still alive, I know that we’ll just still be moving forward as a family, like, out of love for each other and that that decision will come later.”

Maynard recorded that video at her Portland home Oct. 13 and 14, about a week after the first video was posted online and went viral. Her mother, 56-year-old Debbie Zeigler, said she has made it clear to her daughter that she supports her decision no matter what. "No matter which way you want to do this – and the choice is yours all the time – if you want me to bathe you and feed you and go the long way, I will do that,” Zeigler said she told her daughter. “If you want me to be by your side and do death with dignity, I will do that. It is an honor to be with her in her last days no matter what they’re like. I mean that with all my heart, either way.”


Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/she-hasnt-changed-her-mind-but-woman-may-delay-decision-to-die-i-still-have-enough-joy/

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[heaven05]

1. I hope she

Last edited Fri Oct 31, 2014, 09:34 AM - Edit history (1)

takes all the joy she can out of her young life and ends, satisfied with her decision(s). She is one of my heroes. I have thought many times about just this subject.

[Voice for Peace]

3. yes, I hope the same.nt

[Iamthetruth]

10. Agreed

It's her decision and only hers. If she can deal with the pain than I hope the very best days she can have. It takes courage to be her.

[louis-t]

2. I hope her joy cures her and she lives another 60 years.

[big_dog]

4. doesnt look like a lot of time is left...

[onecent]

5. I want to be brave enough to do this...I am Much older than she is though,

but I do not want to sit and rot in a nursing home with abuse...and family lives in other states....and become a vegetable. We should have a choice.
Bless her little heart...May it end well...like a cure for her. She is so young and beautiful.

[KamaAina]

6. Once she makes this decision, it's final.

Kind of like the death penalty. There's no turning back.

I am genuinely pleased by this development.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. Why is she even publicizing the process?

Put aside the underlying issue of whether one should commit suicide before succumbing to a terminal illness for a second.

Why is she making her "plight" a national event?

Thousands, perhaps even millions, in this country alone are dying of a terminal illness. And inevitably, there will be some who want to "control their own destiny", so to speak. But you don't see them posing for the cover of People Magazine.

I had a professor from the school I went to who found out he had a terminal brain tumor, went home and shot himself. It happens. Whether it is right or wrong we can go on all day about.

But death is an inherently private event.

I'm sorry, this whole story reeks of "Look at me!" attention seeking. I hate that I view someone with an undeniably tragic situation in a negative light like that, but I just can't help it.

[pnwmom]

8. She's trying to connect with millions of people before she dies. What's wrong with that?

Not everyone would want that, but I certainly wouldn't question or criticize her decision.

And why the heck do you have the word "plight" in quotation marks? Seems kind of heartless.

Maybe you should look at your own reaction and wonder why you "can't help" but see her in a negative light.

[closeupready]

9. While I get what you're saying, consider that you spent time

reading about her circumstances, and time spent crafting a post here (and elsewhere?).

That is, nobody can waste your time without your consent.

At any rate, I hope she makes a full recovery - the analogy I thought of was Valerie Harper whose own tumor went into remission. Thus, the publicization of Ms. Harper's situation may have helped others (like Ms. Maynard) to reconsider their options.

Peace.

[Humanist_Activist]

11. You do realize she is publicizing this to advocate for....

Physician assisted suicide to be legalized nationwide for all citizens, right? Wouldn't want you to come off as ignorant, misinformed and needlessly judgmental, after all.

[AngryOldDem]

12. She's living her life on her own terms.

I applaud that. And I'm getting kind of tired of all the judgmental people out there who say she's doing it for fame, money, or narcissism. She has put a face on the assisted suicide debate -- a real person, not someone polarizing like Kervorkian -- which we need to have in this society.

For those who say she's "sinning," being "selfish", or what have you (two comments I've seen repeatedly on news boards) -- I can only think of one thing to say: Don't judge unless you've lived a day in her life. And if you are so sure you know what you would do, or how you would deal with, terminal brain cancer, then congrats for having it all figured out.

I think she is an incredibly brave woman.

[Cha]

13. I know.. and I agree. I read her story in People at the Library last week.. and

it was incredibly compelling.

It was explained that the tumor she had would be unbearably painful at the end and she wants to go before then.. that's why they all moved to Portland, Oregon.. but, if she's feeling good on the day it is planned she will put it off.

I'm glad her story is out there.. I had no idea that it was legal for assisted suicide in Oregon for one thing.. they're all brave and strong as they be under the circumstances. Knowing their wife and daughter won't be with them much longer.. unless Miracle, of course.