Brittany Maynard decides death can wait
Terminally-ill cancer patient Brittany Maynard, who had planned to end her own life on November 1st, says she no longer has a death date as she still feels she has plenty to live for.
“I still feel good enough, and I still have enough joy, and I still laugh and smile with my family and friends enough that it doesn’t seem like the right time right now,” Maynard explained.
Maynard, 29, was diagnosed in April with a stage 4 malignant brain tumor and given six months to live. She also learned how she could suffer in the end, losing her ability to speak and use her own body. So, earlier this month, she made plans to end her life.
She has decided to spend her time up until that moment completing a bucket list of wishes. She visited the Grand Canyon with her husband and parents earlier this week. In a blog post she said:
"The Canyon was breathtakingly beautiful, and I was able to enjoy my time with the two things I love most: my family and nature."
In the latest video, she said she hopes that her husband Dan will move on and start a family after she passes, but for the moment she still has so much to see and experience.
Since her diagnosis Mrs Maynard has made it her goal to raise awareness about a growing "dying with dignity" movement that gives terminally ill people the right to choose when they take their final breath.
“I don’t want to die,” Maynard told CBS This Morning, but she said she’s now suffering from “bone-splitting” headaches, seizures and “moments when I’m looking at my husband’s face and I can’t think of his name.”
In an online video campaign with advocacy organisation Compassion & Choices, Brittany Maynard tells her story: Debilitating headaches, which started right after her wedding, eventually led to her being diagnosed with stage IV glioblastoma multiforme, a fast-growing brain cancer that usually kills its victims in a matter of months.
"My glioblastoma is going to kill me, and that's out of my control," she told People Magazine.
"I've discussed with many experts how I would die from it, and it's a terrible, terrible way to die. Being able to choose to go with dignity is less terrifying."
After exploring and weighing the options available to her, Maynard and her husband decided to move from San Francisco to Portland, Oregon, where she would have access to the state's Death With Dignity Act (DWDA). Passed in 1997, the law "allows terminally ill Oregonians to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose."
According the most recent data, 1173 people have had DWDA prescriptions written, and 752 patients have died from ingesting medications prescribed under the DWDA. To qualify under DWDA, a person has to be a mentally competent adult and a resident of the state of Oregon.
"The goal is to give people who are terminally ill a dignified way to exit," George Eighmey, a retired Oregon legislator who helped pass the law, told Yahoo Health.
"That begins with making sure they are getting the best possible care, and that they have the opportunity to explore every option available to them."
Maynard's story shines a spotlight on the so-called "aid in dying" movement that has been slowly gaining acceptance in the United States. Since 2008, four other states have passed "death with dignity" legislation: - Washington, Vermont, Montana, and New Mexico.
For years, helping terminally ill patients end their lives was considered immoral, and doctors who answered the call were shunned and stigmatised. Terms such as "euthanasia" and "assisted suicide" caused fear and misunderstanding, said Eighmey, who is now a board member for the Death With Dignity National Centre.
"The more educated people become, the less fear they have about it and the less stigma it carries," he said.
"No one is pressured into using this law; in fact, very few people do. What's important is that the choice is available to anyone who qualifies."
Despite the momentum that DWDA laws have gained in recent years, there is still pushback, Eighmey said.
"People try to make this a religious or political issue," he continued.
"But the diversity of those who use this law does not support that argument."
According to data Eighmey gathered over the years, more than 50 percent of people who participated in the program described themselves as belonging to a religion, and another 25 percent claimed to be spiritual. Politically, 41 percent said that they were Republican and 43 percent claimed to be Democrat.
"It crosses religious and political barriers," he said.
"This is an option that gives comfort to people no matter what they believe."
Advocates of DWDA, staunchly oppose the notion that people who choose this option are committing suicide.
"The public generally tends to think of suicide as something committed by a person who is severely depressed but physically healthy, yet they don't want to live," said Eighmey.
"Aid in dying involves mentally competent people who are terminally ill but would love to live, if possible. People choose to do this not out of desperation, but to maintain some aspect of control in their lives."
Maynard specifically addressed the notion of "suicide" in her interview with People magazine.
"There is not a cell in my body that is suicidal or that wants to die," she said.
"I want to live. I wish there was a cure for my disease but there's not."
If you are concerned about the mental health of yourself or a loved one, seek support and information by calling Lifeline 13 11 14, Mensline 1300 789 978, or Kids Helpline 1800 551 800
