Has Anyone Elected for No Treatment?

Posted by mikeg73 @mikeg73, Aug 26 3:34pm

If so, how did you make that decision? How long has it been since diagnosis and how are you doing?

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Profile picture for beaquilter @beaquilter

It really was one of the symptoms that brought him to the doctor too, but we had a lot of stress in our lives with my in-laws old and dying, so a little magic pill did the trick usually. But before the desire was there but function lacked a bit, now it's nothing.....I miss it....a lot!

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I feel for both of us

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In my case, from the PSMA PET scan one iliac lymph node was pretty obvious and the other likely, along with three lesions in the prostate. I had 26 radiation treatments for the pelvis generally and another 18 just targeting the prostate. Seems like some specialists call my circumstance Stage 3 and others, Stage 4.

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Profile picture for proftom2 @proftom2

Three years ago one of my aPC buddies decided to quit treatments. He was two years in at the time. Those years were horrible. He lost his wife, and health insurance, while the bills piled up. He decided to call it good. He stopped treatments. Focused on exercise, nutrition, and updated his playlist daily. Now his life includes long walks, long bike rides, long library visits, and long coffee visits with friends every day. He is defiantly living his best version right now. He's 74. He's checked out Netherlands, and Canada for their assisted dying laws. He discovered it really comes down to controlling your own exit strategy. It takes a high quality of life country to with compassionate exit laws. He spent some time in each country. Met with docs, and care providers discovering the quality of life also includes quality of death. He plans to move to either country next year. I plan to visit him after he moves and maybe....

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Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID) is an important service, and like the majority of Canadians, I think people who are very unwell with no hope of cure or improvement should have the right to choose when they end their lives, with close oversight from a medical panel.

But I think it's fundamentally wrong that someone like your friend should be forced to seek MAID for economic reasons, like a lack of insurance and health bills, or (as is sometimes the case here) being exhausted from trying to survive by on meagre government disability benefits. 🙁

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Profile picture for northoftheborder @northoftheborder

Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID) is an important service, and like the majority of Canadians, I think people who are very unwell with no hope of cure or improvement should have the right to choose when they end their lives, with close oversight from a medical panel.

But I think it's fundamentally wrong that someone like your friend should be forced to seek MAID for economic reasons, like a lack of insurance and health bills, or (as is sometimes the case here) being exhausted from trying to survive by on meagre government disability benefits. 🙁

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Northoftheborder. I and my friend totally agree.

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