Suicide an extremely personal matter
Dear Dr. Gott: I was horrified by your response to the woman considering suicide. Possibly facing incurable cancer, you said she should probably commit suicide if she so desired. Her attitude seemed to me to exhibit a lack of caring for others and a total absorption in self. What about the loved ones who are left behind to deal with the carnage and guilt? I am sad for this woman; she sounded so alone and lost.
I am comfortable offering my opinion because I am dying of incurable pancreatic cancer that has spread to my lymph nodes and liver. At the time of my diagnosis in November of 2003, I allied myself with a wonderful and caring oncologist who is the person I have chosen to direct my final plan for life and eventual death. Also, I have ongoing discussions with my exceptional family physician who has offered more help and hugs than anyone is entitled to expect. In addition, I have been directed to a wonderful hospice that gives unlimited support for both my mind and body. Thanks to medical professionals, I am virtually free of pain and nausea and will remain so until the end.
Perhaps the most positive attribute of this whole process is the time my family and I have to draw together and strengthen our bond of love. I hope that after I’m gone, my family and friends will feel good about the experience and, I hope, will never have a shred of regret, remorse or guilt.
I am convinced that it is more important to include those I love in this difficult process of dying than to think only of myself and thereby ruin the lives of others, perhaps forever, because of an irreversible act of selfishness and thoughtlessness.
Dear Reader: I am printing an edited version of your touching and powerful letter because it reinforces my belief that the issue of suicide is an extremely personal matter that each of us must address. It would be imprudent, in my view, to limit one’s options across the board because this virtually removes the right of an individual to make appropriate choices about a subject as vital as end-of-life decisions.
Thank you for writing and sharing your opinion.
Dear Dr. Gott: I recently purchased a bed from a man who was dying of prostate cancer. Do I have cause for concern?
Dear Reader: Cancer is not considered to be contagious in the customary sense of a cold or sore throat. You will not develop cancer as a consequence of sleeping in a bed once occupied by a person with such a disease. If this were not so, hospitals would have to recycle their mattresses — and they don’t. Although the cause of cancer is, by and large, unknown, it is not spread from one person to another.
To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report “The Prostate Gland.” Other readers who would like a copy should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.