New device wakes person in near PSV!

Sorry to hear about all you went through with your father. I really base my view on the sanctity of life on God’s Word. We can reason things out in our own hearts and minds, but when it comes down to it, I plan to follow the Lord.

I am pasting the story from 2 Samuel 1 below. It is the account of King Saul’s death. Now many can argue and try and twist this story to mean whatever they think. But I am confident that a living human has had life bestowed on them by the Creator, and ONLY the Creator can decide when that life is over.

2 Samuel 1
The Report of Saul’s Death
1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag, 2 on the third day, behold, it happened that a man came from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. So it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself.
3 And David said to him, “Where have you come from?”
So he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”
4 Then David said to him, “How did the matter go? Please tell me.”
And he answered, “The people have fled from the battle, many of the people are fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.”
5 So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?”
6 Then the young man who told him said, “As I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa, there was Saul, leaning on his spear; and indeed the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. 7 Now when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8 And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ So I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ 9 He said to me again, ‘Please stand over me and kill me, for anguish has come upon me, but my life still remains in me.’ 10 So I stood over him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord.”
11 Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. 12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
13 Then David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?”
And he answered, “I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite.”
14 So David said to him, “How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” 15 Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go near, and execute him!” And he struck him so that he died. 16 So David said to him, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the LORD’s anointed.’”

Tieki Rae, the only reason I considered posting on this at my site was because I anticipate it to be long, certainly not to steal your fire here! But there are plenty of long comments above, so I will try to be brief, and here goes…

My dad opened the cellar stairwell door to flip on the furnace switch. It was Oct. 5, 1990. His mother had died on this day in 1979 and it was a tough one for him always. He had been drinking pretty heavily according to a friend who had just left to go to the store for him, so he wouldn’t be tempted to drive there himself.

When my friend returned, he found the cellar door partly open and heard my dad groaning at the bottom of the stairs in the dark. When he switched on the light, he saw my dad at the foot of the stairwell. He had apparently lost his footing and fell the 15 feet length of the stairs. His head hit the concrete wall immediately at the bottom.

I was living in Daytona Beach at the time with my former wife. I got the call from my brother who also lived in Florida.

He told me that dad was in the Emergency Room and the doctors needed permission to perform a critical operation to relieve the pressure on his brain. He wanted me to call the doctor and make the decision according to what I was told. I was much closer to my dad than he was, and for once, he trusted my judgement… at least for the moment.

When I called, the doctor told me he had come in conscious and coherent, although combative. He knew his own name and answered questions accurately. His skull was fractured in a nearly connecting circle all around the upper third of his head. The brain was rapidly swelling and the pressure had since rendered him unconscious.

The doctor explained he was going to die without surgery. I immediately asked how he was going to be if we operated, stopped the pressure build-up and saved his life. He replied that he could not answer that, but that it was a very good sign that he had answered questions before he became unconscious… he had even written his name for them.

Faced with the uncertainty of everything except the fact he would die without attention, I authorized the operation. I did this with a big chill, because I well knew how my father felt about living incapacitated without his mind. He had emphatically, explicitly told me many, many times NOT to keep him alive in a diminished mental capacity, and ESPECIALLY on life support or a feeding tube!

My brother and I flew home that evening and were by his side the following morning.

He laid in a coma for two days. He was 77 years old, strong as a bull and appeared in his late forties until this accident. Ironically, he had fallen down the same stairs nineteen years earlier and also fractured his skull then. The damage then was significantly lesser, however.

When Dad awoke, it was my absolute worst nightmare. He could speak, but it was all gibberish. There were no connecting thoughts, he didn’t know what had happened, where he was, who he was or, most impacting, who his children were. He could not even express his confusion. Simply babble and utter nonsense.

He could not walk, he could not feed himself or clean himself. I cannot describe to you how difficult it is to recall this and accurately convey to you the details and sequence of events.

My brother went home after four days. They were not close. I stayed by his side for the duration. Dad and I were very best freinds.

Dad had always told me to “bring him a gun” if this situation was to ever occur. I had always agreed dutifully that I would honor his wishes. As a child, I never could really consider that this was a real possibility. Now I was faced with it and my haunting promised obligation to my father.

However, my father was in no condition to use a gun, or anything else for that matter. It was if he was an infant. Yet I knew of his wishes and could not escape. He was not vague about his wishes in this condition, much the same as Kevin has been here, Tieki.

The doctors told me anything could happen and it could take up to a full year or more before hope of brain healing could honestly be abandoned. Dad could swallow and, for a few weeks at least, would eat when fed.

I was alone by his side every, single day. And I resolved that I would have to allow time and carefully watch, talk to and encourage him. God needed time to make his choice, and as tough as it was to do, I had to patiently wait, pray and hope.

I brought him tape recordings of his songs he used to sing to me as a little boy and played them for him. I made sure I was there when it was time to eat, I fed him and I timed my meals with him so I could also.

Dad was a professional photographer. I brought in armloads of pictures and I showed them to him, and explained what each was. He listened to me sometimes, but it could be brief, and it was fleeting.

<B>I could not tell what he knew and understood about me and the world around him.</B>

He was physically very healthy and I realized if his brain did not heal, he could live like this for many, many years. I wondered if he realized what condition he was in but could not communicate it. He would get very agitated and frustrated. I wondered if he was remembering the promises I made to him about this and was angry because he viewed me as failing him.

I began to consider killing my own father… because he could not do it himself. I had promised him I would not allow him to live like this. The time for me to “help” my dad as I had said I would… was here. I truly hope none of you are ever in this position.

I wondered if the fact that me killing him and ruining the remainder of my life would have impacted his wishes. Would he have given up a peaceful end for himself to guarantee me a life remaining without jail? What would he do if the circumstances were reversed?

My decison was to wait, no matter how difficult, and let God decide. I did not remove myself from the duty of ending Dad’s life, I rather decided to delay it.

After six weeks, Dad stopped eating. The doctors began discussing a feeding tube. I adamantly objected and raised the roof on the place. I related Dad’s wishes and described how strongly he felt. They delayed their decision and allowed me to try to get him to eat, but assured me they would get a court order if I was unsuccessful.

I begged some venison from a dear friend, home cooked Dad a big steak, just exactly the way he loved it and brought it to him. After over a week hardly eating anything, he ate with eagerness as I fork fed him bite after bite.

The next morning when I arrived, I had the biggest shock of my life.

Dad sat straight up in bed and clearly said, “Well, for Christ’s sake, what the #@%^ are you doing here?”

I had to hold onto the door frame to keep from collapsing and I dissolved into tears. I was floored.

I said, “Dad, do you know who I am?”

He said, “Well of course I know who you are, you %$#&ing idiot!”

I asked him what my name was.

He couldn’t tell me. And then he slipped back into pure gibberish. Yet several times shortly thereafter, he would look up at me and ask very pointedly why I was there.

By day’s end, all that momentary, seeming coherence of some sort was gone again.

However, what I witnessed was clear, verbally perfect with familiar expression in every line of his face. I was energized with new, very real hope.

Another week went by, with no changes and again my father’s almost total resistance to any eating. Again I began to wonder what he knew of his condition, who I was, why I was there… and if he expected me to do as I had promised. I continued to battle the feeding tube insertion and hand fed him as he would eat.

Much to my disappointment and astonishment, Dad had never written a Living Will outlining his specific wishes. I came to the conclusion that Dad would not want me to sacrifice the rest of my life for him. He had screwed up, big time! He knew to write it but never did. Given that, I rationalized that Dad would endure whatever he was relegated to so as to protect and guarantee the well being of his own flesh and blood.

I would not take my father’s life.

The next day, on November 18th, 1990, I got a call at home as I was preparing to go visit my dad in the hospital. It was the doctor. He told me that Dad’s blood pressure had suddenly taken a very dramatic, life threatening drop and that he was unconscious. He asked me if I wished for them to pursue the source of the drop.

I realized God had made his decision and had extended his hand to help us both. I told the doctor <b>not to touch him</B>, just to keep him out of pain.

I rushed to the hospital to be by my dad’s side, but he passed away 14 minutes after I received the call from the doctor. I didn’t get to say goodbye.

I have since never been so wounded, but Dad was at peace at long last.

I don’t know how this story might change or not change anyone’s views. I will say nothing further beyond my respect for life and my perhaps overriding respect for an individual’s wishes about how they choose to live… and die.

If you want to be kept from artificial life support, whatever your definition of that is, <B>LEGALLY WRITE IT</b> and distribute many copies to your loved ones. I don’t believe in suicide, but I recognize it is also an individual choice, whether right or wrong. The only one qualified to pass judgement on a person’s actions is God himself… and He will.

Lastly, think hard before you make promises you may not be strong enough to keep.

I hope this is useful to some of you in some manner. Tieki, I really apologize for the length and detail… this is me. I know no other way. Thanks for the incredibly thought provoking post and the opportunity to respond.

God bless all of you.

Tremendous… ALL of you and even the evil Nazi Kevin, too!

Now I wish I had more time to write, but perhaps it is better that I will have to leave the biz in the next couple of minutes and head for the ranch to meet and entertain some friends I haven’t visited with in a year. Good I will have more time to think on this.

Perhaps tonight after the feed, if I don’t over-imbibe (which I don’t plan to do, but who plans these things anyway??).

I haven’t decided if I shall post commentary here or simply create an entire post at my blog, certainly referencing this incredible post.

I have a suspicion I will have quite a bit to say. Whether that is good or bad, I don’t know… I will surely let this esteemed panel of readers/commenters decide. You see, I lived much of this entire equation, for seven and a half weeks, after my father had a severe accident and was brain damaged in 1990.

Regardless of the coming reactions to what I will have to say (and let the chips fall…), there is something I still have time to write this very second and I couldn’t possibly mean every syllable of it more intensely…

You folks, each of you, likely cannot begin to fathom the regard I have come to have for you. I don’t have to see your faces or hear your voices. You have become a gift in my life. You provide me with daily heavy lifting exercise for my brain. I have huge respect for your values, your intelligence, your comradery and especially your views. You each contribute to making me a better person and you, above all else, keep me honest.

If my experience, as I relate it to you, causes you insult or disagreement, please know it is not personal. My hope is that it will give you yet another glimpse into this extraordinarily difficult question. My encounter with this, and my opinion on the other side of it, is purely for you to ponder.

You guys ALL kick major butt.

I’ll be back… take good care… <i>Friends</i>.

I guess I’m more interested in if this would work on liberals?

Easy Kevin — I grew up in KS and I know that’s wicked witch of the west talk

And as far as this question goes — good one! Wow, you’re into some very deep issues that very often change the course of one’s life, if one has ears to hear. I’m anticipating a heart change soon. I’m at work, so I can’t spend too much time blogging, but let me say, someone will probably put a post up on that question soon.

le

Well, that’s good. I would say that it’s not “life” that makes us valuable, it is God Who makes us valuable. And He made us up and down the spectrum of mental ability and disability.

I think you need to think about this for a while. Unlike the immigration bill, you don’t have to come to a decision today. God has given you some time to consider it (I think!).

I’m not going to say anything more, because Tieki said it very well. I suggest you read the book Doug recommended (over at FDW), just to get a very solid perspective on the issue of euthanasia, a slippery slope to the gates of hell, in my perspective.

Thanks for letting me come to visit, Tieki!

le

It’s not fair to compare a newborn to a newly retarded person, tieki. One has great potential, and one doesn’t. One can go on to accomplish great things. Can the other? Not really, if you’re being honest. I feel like it’s ok, or good to feed either. But I feel like we would be doing a good thing for the child, and a bad thing for the adult.

Also, physical impairments are not even <i>slightly</i> similar to mental ones, imo.

I want to be clear and say I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything. I’m just fishing for ideas I can latch on to. This is an unfortunately important issue.

“However, I would really encourage you to think on why God created mankind.”

That whole paragraph… good Lord! And you are only twenty years old? Hah! Man, I hate being schooled by a kid, but it’s occurring. I mostly blame Tammi for this insufference. She raised you ‘right’ (as if that was a ‘good’ thing) and now I’M taking the heat! I’ll get you Wytammic! And your little dog, too! You raise a huge question that many, including myself, are unwilling to guess at. Why Did he?

Heh. now we’ve got TWO gigantic questions… “What makes a human life valuable?” and “Why did God create mankind?” I couldn’t post such big questions myself(my site is goofy at best), but I’m insatiably awaiting the answers!

I wish I could find a way to draw other conservative bloggers here. The comments would be (and are) incredibly interesting.