6 replies to this topic

[Califanna]

I have been speaking to a young woman who is now in a wheelchair due to a spinal cord injury at T-10. She asked me this question and I want to throw it out to hear your opinions.

Is their a point in life when you can definitely state that there is no 'quality of life' for a person and so they should be allowed to end their life with no repercussions from society?

You see, she is now in my world of seeing many different individuals who are living life with more severe physical and/or mental impairments than herself, and she wonders how do these individuals and their families keep going?

I have my opinion, but I want to hear from you. Give me some of your insight into this subject.

[wheeliebear75]

If you were to ask my mother I'm sure she would say so long as I can still recognize her (mentally).

But I'm not sure that this is a subject that a NEWLY injured person should be dwelling on. Instead I think it better to just be grateful that she isn't as bad as some & take strength from them "If they can do it so can I.".

MUCH of "quality of life" is dependent on; who you have as support, what equipment you're able to get, accessibility, & a reason or porpus(sp?).

[A trophy guy]

"Quality of life" after SCI is influenced by outside factors such as living conditions, support structures and, perhaps most importantly; types and levels of health insurance. Someone going through the battles of para/tetraplegia with only Medicaid/HealthPlus-type health insurance coverage is going to have a much lower quality of life than a similarly injured person with much more comprehensive and complete, private insurance.

This was hit home to me a few years ago when I met a man who had been paralyzed after being shot in the back. He came from a very poor home and didn't have any sort of health insurance except for the for-the-poor gov't-issued HealthPlus (Medicaid).

Anyway, after talking to him for a few minutes I discovered that he had been paralyzed for even longer than I had; by about two or three years. With this in mind, I was struck with curiousity by the fact that he was sitting in what was basically a hospital loaner-chair; those piece-of-shit rinky dink machines that are bright silver with blue lining. When I asked him why he had such a crappy chair (given that he had been paralyzed for so long), he told me that his chair was "being held".

Being held? He said his regular chair had been sent in for repairs. Well, seeing as how he only had HealthPlus, when it came time to bill HealthPlus for those repairs, Healthplus balked; saying that the wear and tear that had been inflicted on the chair was "excessive". They deemed the wear and tear "excessive" and demanded that "Johnny" (I don't remember his real name) get a script from his doctor explaining why the chair was so worn. ?? Until that time, they would NOT pay the repair bill. So, until that time, "Johnny" was stuck in a piece-of-shit hospital loaner wheelchair.

I just couldn't wrap my brain around how backwards and wrong that situation was. I mean, when someone is SCI, it becomes enough of a challenge in and of itself to get motivated to get out in the world and really use that wheelchair. But to then have your health insurance provider punish you for doing just that? Sad.

And this was an unnecessarry headache that would never occur if he had decent insurance. His "quality of life" definitely is affected due to his lack of health insurance. And I think this is something that affects myriad SCI patients, in one way or another.

Edited by A trophy guy, 06 February 2012 - 04:53 AM.

[quadinva]

Califanna, on 06 February 2012 - 02:34 AM, said:

Is their a point in life when you can definitely state that there is no 'quality of life' for a person and so they should be allowed to end their life with no repercussions from society?

I think there is a point at which euthenasia is acceptable, but only in degeneterative situations. For example, we experienced this in a way with my grandma. She was 90 years old and developed a blood disorder. She was in superior health prior both mentally and physically, drove, did her own shopping, gardening, everything... Upon her diagnosis she was advised to not drive for fear she might get lightheaded behind the wheel and pass out. Her disease required her to get blood transfusions, initially once a month, then bi-monthly, then weekly. At the point where she was exhausted everyday and was told she needed transfusions daily, she decided that she had lived all that she needed to and wouldn't get anymore transfusions, she died in her sleep right where she wanted to (in the bed she had slept in for some 75 odd years)...Her quality of life was deteriorating with no hope of reversing, and she died peacefully and fulfilled with life.


As it pertains to SCI, I dont think the above relates. Generally (yes there are exceptions) SCI's are at their lowest quality of life the second they are paralyzed, but only improve from that point on. Improvemennt in QofL varies from miniscule to nearly 100%, but most don't degenerate unless they consciously dont help themselves (in terms of QofL, namely function). However, DNR's should be abied by. A VERY high quad may not be able to move anything, but many live very happily. this leads me to believe that if a c-1 or c-2 (or para or AB for that matter) doesnt want to live anymore, its due to mental distress or depression, which is treatable and shouldnt be a valid reason for doctor assisted suicide. IMO

-Bags

[Darko Bejo]

Hi Ya'll.


This is my story


My name is Darko Bejo…I am 25 years old and instead of walking in police officer’s uniform, I am sitting in a wheelchair…All my dreams and hopes disappeared literally in one rainy night at the end of September 2009, when I had a major traffic accident near my hometown Split…My spine was heavily injured, and I have not been walking for almost two and half years…

I will never forget the day when we were sent home from the Police Training Center in Zagreb because of the actual swine flu epidemic at the time. I took my car and went home with four of friends and colleagues…I had driven three of them to their homes already and wanted to take the forth friend to his home as well…When almost on his doorstep, just a few blocks from his home I had the life-changing accident because of heavy rain and bad road conditions. In one moment the car just slipped of the road and I rolled over with the car and that was the moment when I suffered major spine injury…

After such a big tragedy and injury, I experienced few more insults, especially with the treatment of my employer, which was Croatian Police…I invested a lot of time in Police Training and sacrificed a lot. I had my accident while I was sent to go home from schooling, and all I get from them are a few lawsuits and total ignorance for my condition…I was also extremely disappointed in my doctors in Rehabilitation Center Varazdin where I was declared a lost cause and my walking days are finished…But I didn’t surrender to the injury, I will show to them all that I will walk one day again and my progress is showing that it will happen. However, money started to be a bigger barrier on my way to full recovery than I expected…

My family, close friends and a few good hearted people are the ones that help me and are the ones who give me mighty strength to get through this…

MY LEGS ARE MY LIFE AND I WANT THEM BACK

I have been through an adult stem cell therapy 7months ago, and the doctor Dr.Sass has helped me regain my sensory evoked potential, and reduced my spasms and I have regained partially the control of my bladder with only a single use of a catheter.

I have been more than overwhelmed, and I am looking forward to sharing my story with all of you.

[Tetracyclone]

ATG-
I am glad you make that point about quality of life being correlated with quality of insurance. We had no insurance that would have covered nursing home care. Before I recovered enough to take care of myself I was very concerned about this. If I had needed 24 hour care or even daily home carer visits we would have had no alternative but to divorce and get me on Medicaid. One cannot get on Medicaid in the USA until all personal funds have been exhausted- the bank account emptied and the family home sold.

I considered this foolish, especially since within a few years our funds would have been gone. Better to sever the legal bond and leave Don with a home, which he will need for 2 or 3 decades, if he can keep it.

I do not think our relationship would have lasted very many years with me in a home. We would have both been worn down by the situation and wanted to escape.

The lack of social insurance in the USA shapes a great many things in our lives. I don't say it is right or wrong, only that it is the biggest determinant of our health and happiness. Even when there is a national health care there is not enough money and people do not get the care they need. Just read the threads about getting a diagnosis, or on Cauda Equina.

For most of human history a family's well-being depended on having a maximum of able-bodied and hard-working members. Children had to work young. Elders like me who lost the ability to work were either neglected or they crawled outdoors on a night when the cold would kill them. I applaud individuals making their own decisions. If government tries to make such decisions it offends everyone's sense of personal autonomy.

[Niceparalegs]

I believe that life itself is a gift from God and its not the place of any human being to take it away.