Brittany Maynard, Death With Dignity Advocate, Dies At 29
Source: Huffington Post
Brittany Maynard, the Oregon woman who had become an outspoken advocate for patient's rights following her terminal cancer diagnosis, died on Saturday, the Oregonian reported. She was 29.
"Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love," she wrote in a Facebook post, according to People. "Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness... the world is a beautiful place, travel has been my greatest teacher, my close friends and folks are the greatest givers... goodbye world. Spread good energy. Pay it forward!"
Earlier this year, Maynard learned that she was suffering from an aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma and had only six months to live. After hearing what the disease would to her body in its final stages, she decided that she wanted to die on her own terms.
Maynard and her family, including her husband Dan Diaz and her mother Debbie Ziegler, moved to Oregon, whose Death With Dignity Act has allowed hundreds of terminally ill people to end their lives by taking a medication prescribed by doctors. She picked November 1st as the day she wanted to die because it was after her husband's late October birthday.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/02/brittany-maynard-dead-cancer_n_6091142.html?&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067
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BlueDemKev
(3,003 posts)
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)You did good.
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)May all who face such a situation be able to find a path like this.
My best wishes to her husband and family.
Ishoutandscream2
(6,771 posts)
Xipe Totec
(44,466 posts)I want to die young at the end of the day On the High Sea, with face to the sky, When agony is but a dream far away And the flight of my soul is a bird soaring by.
Let there be no sad tears as I draw my last breath, at one and alone with the sky and the sea, No sobbing, nor prayer, nor laments of death; I only would hear the deep waves cover me.
To die when the bright glow of twilight is fading, And catches the waves in its last net of light; To be like that sun as its luminous shading Expires and is lost in the arms of the night.
To die, and die young: before time has destroyed The delicate fabric illusion has spun; When life can still say:"I am yours," but the void Of a final echo tells us death has won!
- Gossamer Stories,
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera,
Translated by John A. Crow
freshwest
(53,661 posts)I could post two quotes, but your contribution is much more positive.
Xipe Totec
(44,466 posts)I am always looking for new insights.
Hekate
(100,131 posts)My thanks.
Mojorabbit
(16,020 posts)
Judi Lynn
(164,047 posts)
handmade34
(23,813 posts)living and dying on our own terms... 
I am deeply saddened by the illness that took her away so young.
But I am inspired that she had the courage to do this publicly in an effort to make progress on this important issue.
Modern medicine has made incredible strides to keep us alive. However, somewhere along the way, they have lost sight that being kept alive is not necessarily the same thing as living.
Death with Dignity is a cause I fight for because it is a choice I would want available to me.
Rest in Peace brave soul and strength to the family.
wendylaroux
(2,925 posts)terminal people are not living,they are dying.
CaliforniaPeggy
(156,025 posts)You showed so much bravery by your actions in your life and at your death...
My deepest condolences to your family.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)I can not see the need to prolong suffering, very humane.
Cha
(316,461 posts)Rest In Peace~Brittany Maynard 
NutmegYankee
(16,454 posts)I watched my father die at age 49 from Glioblastoma. Watched a 240 lb man wither to 75 lbs in just two months, lose his ability to walk and speak, and lose other basic functions.
This woman has done a lot of good for this cause. God bless her.
NJCher
(42,326 posts)I'm sorry you had to go through that, Nutmeg Yankee. Forty-nine is way too young. And 75 lbs is almost unimaginable.
I always want to cry when I hear stories like this, but death is just a transition.
Cher
NutmegYankee
(16,454 posts)And I started crying right after I wrote that because it came flooding back. Memories like when the steroids finally failed to stop the swelling and my father's brain suffered massive hemorrhaging, the doctors hooking him up to a ventilator against his and our wishes, and the nasty fight we had with the doctor who wanted to withhold the morphine because it could cause him to stop breathing. That was our society - withholding pain meds because a terminal patient with maybe a day or two to live could stop breathing if he got them. We won the fight, but it took an entire day to get him off the ventilator and transported home where he died within hours.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts) I'm sorry you all had to go through that....truly awful.
Prolonging suffering...That's not what medical care should be.
Thank goodness Oregon exists.
classof56
(5,376 posts)I'm grateful it is working as I hoped it would. Recently lost a family member who died far too soon, but would have availed himself of the law if he so decided. We were grateful he was spared that path, but grateful it was there for him and for Brittany. I am terribly sad, of course, to lose someone I loved very much, as I know Brittany's friends and family are to lose her. Coincidentally, today is my late sister's birthday. She died in an accident and I still miss her terribly, but I know if the choice had been hers, she'd have chosen death over unrelenting pain.
Rest in peace, Brittany. And blessings to those who are grieving your loss.
Spirochete
(5,264 posts)a few years ago. He lived in Newport, and also had a brain tumor. It's good that Oregon gives a person that option.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)I voted for it and then against its repeal.
RIP Brittany.
Ampersand Unicode
(503 posts)...but was not old enough to vote yet. I was disappointed that it got defeated, of course by the meddling pearl-clutching Catholic voters who came out in droves to vote against bodily autonomy and in favor of draconian morality.
At least Oregonians and Vermonters are rational. And Montanans -- at least on this issue.
Belgium, Switzerland and Holland still lead the way on compassionate choice.
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)it was huge but freeing for everyone. You did the good thing.
FLyellowdog
(4,276 posts)roguevalley
(40,656 posts)care.
PumpkinAle
(1,210 posts)your strength and courage helps others are able to die with dignity.
May Dan and your Mom find peace in the days to come.
PeteSelman
(1,508 posts)In that picture anyway.
Going out on your own terms offers you the only dignity possible.
R.I.P.
shenmue
(38,576 posts) 
hlthe2b
(112,642 posts)
Initech
(107,249 posts)It's good that she got the choice, others aren't so lucky.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)It shouldn't be that way.
otohara
(24,135 posts) hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)I support her completely.
Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts) roguevalley
(40,656 posts)
Louisiana1976
(3,962 posts)
BeyondGeography
(40,793 posts)It hurts to see her go. RIP.
customerserviceguy
(25,406 posts)needs to be her legacy in as many places as politically possible. I salute her courage to live and die on her own terms, and to use the rest of her life to inspire others to grant the dying what she had to move to Oregon to accomplish.
Unknown Beatle
(2,691 posts)mahannah
(893 posts)
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)for your courage, and your positive message.
ripcord
(5,553 posts)
47of74
(18,470 posts)Thank you for all you have done for humanity.
jalan48
(14,914 posts)What an incredibly strong and enlightened young woman. I hope the best for her family.
BlueStater
(7,596 posts)Rest in peace. 
MissDeeds
(7,499 posts)May the angels light your way.
Hawaii Hiker
(3,168 posts) 
RoccoRyg
(260 posts)I like to keep track of what the freaks are up to. They are not sympathetic for Brittany's passing. They think she tried to encourage others to commit suicide too, and they say she was evil for standing up for death-with-dignity laws because they will lead to state-sponsored euthanasia. They also think she isn't going to Heaven. What a bunch of paranoid, hateful lunatics.
RIP Brittany.
47of74
(18,470 posts)
Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)wants the government to tell us how to live?
djean111
(14,255 posts)Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)SleeplessinSoCal
(10,366 posts)At least it seems that way.
davidn3600
(6,342 posts)
herding cats
(19,967 posts) 
UpInArms
(53,963 posts) SleeplessinSoCal
(10,366 posts)Subconscience at work?
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Peace and comfort to your family at this time.
Ilsa
(63,781 posts)I hope her passing was gentle. Peace to her family and loved ones.
sheshe2
(95,591 posts)Brittany Maynard
The Angels Weep for your sweet soul~
undiegrinder
(79 posts)Bon voyage, Brittany ... wish you could share with us what you learn from this journey.
BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)...the plight of her life or try to elicit emotions. She stood tall and did what she thought was best.
I hope I go out with such strength.
840high
(17,196 posts)
Tom_Foolery
(4,728 posts) 
treestar
(82,383 posts)and thought she might not have since it did not make that news for so long.
I hope people who decide not to do this are not consider to suffer a death without dignity.
markpkessinger
(8,875 posts). . . after this article appeared earlier in the week on Huffington Post, in which she stated her intention to delay her death. Some of the reader comments were simply appalling -- things like, "I knew she'd chicken out" and "A deal's a deal" and the like. But the dignity she, and the Death with Dignity movement, called for lay not in setting a date certain and following through, but rather in having the option to do so. Never has this movement remotely suggested that taking one's own life is the only dignified option for a terminally ill person, but rather that what constitutes 'dignity' in death is for the indivdual facing it to determine.
treestar
(82,383 posts)Some of the comments were about fighting it, or the doctors being wrong - one guy said no doctor should put a number of months on how long you have to live, and others claimed their relatives were given 3/6 month prognosis and were still around 20 years later.
This is true - it's the interpretation. Either way is "dignified" in its own way.
Gloria
(17,663 posts)before it was taken out of her hands. She had been worried about deteriorating to the point that she would not
be able to take the drugs.
Godspeed, Brittany!
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)
blackspade
(10,056 posts)RIP Brittany.
Another version of this story:
http://news.yahoo.com/terminally-ill-death-dignity-advocate-dies-024759984.html
This part stood out to me:
Janet Morana, executive director of the group Priests for Life, said in a statement after hearing of Maynard's death: "We are saddened by the fact that this young woman gave up hope, and now our concern is for other people with terminal illnesses who may contemplate following her example. Our prayer is that these people will find the courage to live every day to the fullest until God calls them home. Brittany's death was not a victory for a political cause. It was a tragedy, hastened by despair and aided by the culture of death invading our country."
Fuck off Janet. Gave up hope? You hope others find the courage to live? Culture of death? Take your religious bullshit and cram it up your cram hole. One more Christian grandstanding on the death of a terminally ill patient. Disgusting.
Bibliovore
(186 posts)An acquaintance of mine was in a car accident last month. She was in a coma and was found to have substantial brain-stem damage. Recovery was not going to happen, and her husband honored her previously stated wishes and withheld care. It then took many days for her to die, slowly starving to death and dehydrating, in a coma on pain meds. If she'd been a dog, she'd have been allowed to be gently euthanized without prolonging suffering.
Contrary1
(12,629 posts)Not because of the choice she made, but because she had to make it. I had hoped that she might be able to stay a bit longer.
Rest well.
hamsterjill
(16,920 posts)Your post echoes my own sentiments.
I hope her remaining family will find peace.
C Moon
(13,429 posts)
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Raster
(21,010 posts)
Elmergantry
(884 posts)It let her die peacefully and didnt cause pain.
daleanime
(17,796 posts) WillyT
(72,631 posts)
Peace...
packman
(16,296 posts)What more eloquent statement is there for the human spirit? Sad, yet in some way a story that gives one courage.
sinkingfeeling
(57,079 posts)
samsingh
(18,234 posts)stevenleser
(32,886 posts)RIP Brittany.
Myrina
(12,296 posts)Seeing what it did to her - before and after surgery, then chemo, then regrowth - faster & worse, despite the chemo ... it was awful.
I hope Ms. Maynard's decision opens a real and serious discussion about 'personal freedoms' in this country, because to me, the freedom to deal with a terminal illness in whatever way you choose, is a basic human right.
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)
As you know all too well, the survival time/rate is about as low as I have seen on any cancer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glioblastoma_multiforme#Prognosis and that time only comes with some very unpleasant treatment options. The life of the patient is usually already miserable before diagnosis and becomes even more so almost immediately and stays that way.
for your mom.
Edited to add, my mother has had a number of different cancers so I have spent a lot of time at cancer centers talking to other patients. None of the glioblastoma patients I initially met are still around. Very sad.
NutmegYankee
(16,454 posts)
It's heartbreaking to watch. I'm happy she had the choice and the bravery to start this conversation nationwide.
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)redruddyred
(1,615 posts)seriously?
Ineeda
(3,626 posts)been following this story. Read up like a decent person, and then report back. (Is your 'name' indicative of your politics? Is so, no further explanation is necessary. Heartless.)
RIP dear Brittany. My best friend of 50+ years suffered horribly from this disease before she inevitably died a merciless death. I helped with her care, so I witnessed the consequences of this diagnosis.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)I could have cancer too.
you just don't know.
Response to redruddyred (Reply #89)
Post removed
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)then you probably don't have any room to criticize me.
Heartless.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)What is the precise problem in doing so? 
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)...with 1000 of your closest acquaintances?
I guess there's the activism angle to consider.
I suppose I should make a disclaimer lest this devolves into another slugfest: I'm not really bothered one way or another. I just think it's weird.
JanMichael
(25,725 posts)Whether or not you think FB is "weird" is not a valid point. Many people use it now to communicate.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)onecent
(6,096 posts)redruddyred
(1,615 posts)we're all entitled to them. whether or not you think we should have them.
2banon
(7,321 posts)You think sharing on fb was inappropriate? Seriously?
valerief
(53,235 posts)redruddyred
(1,615 posts)
Stargazer09
(2,196 posts)She could have done all of this without publicity, but she was thinking of others even in her final weeks. She opened up the discussion of dying with dignity, and even people who say they would never make that choice have acknowledged that it should be available to people everywhere.
R.I.P. Brittany.
VA_Jill
(13,785 posts)our fur and feathered friends to be euthanized when their suffering becomes too much, but except for a few enlightened places, we expect humans to suffer until a "natural" death overtakes them. That's bullschitt of the highest order. RIP, Brittany, and thanks for showing us, with your grace and courage, how to go peacefully.
fredamae
(4,458 posts)I appreciate her courage for sharing the process. She educated people everywhere and helped all understand the importance of controlling our own bodies in making life and death decisions.
My condolences to her friends and family.
May she rest in peace.
nirvana555
(448 posts)I'm really hoping we can get this on the ballot in CA. I like what someone posted, Brittany's Law....
fredamae
(4,458 posts)CA.
I live in OR. I voted for this so many years ago. I'm lucky (so far) that I am not in any condition to need DWD, but If I ever do?
It Is a comfort just knowing it is there as a choice.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)As a disability-rights advocate and person living with a disability, I know our concerns aren’t just “fear-mongering.” Rather, legalizing assisted-suicide is a direct threat to our community as well as to the elderly, people with chronic illness and others marginalized by society....
When Oregonian Barbara Wagner was prescribed chemotherapy for aggressive lung cancer, the Oregon health plan refused to cover it. They offered, instead, among other things, to pay for her assisted suicide. Randy Stroup, another Oregonian with cancer, received a similar denial. Is there any wonder why? Treating people with terminal or chronic illness is expensive. At roughly $300, assisted suicide is the cheapest “treatment.”...
Brittany Maynard’s story is tragic. When you look at assisted suicide through the narrow lens of one individual, it may look acceptable. But when viewed as broad public policy, assisted suicide is bad medicine.
The author, a friend, is no FReeper; she is at least as progressive as I am. No on 86!
nomorenomore08
(13,324 posts)against their will - including me, potentially, in the future, under various scenarios. I guess there's really no simple, one-size-fits-all answer.
And she's absolutely right about the dangers of assisted suicide under a for-profit healthcare system. Just another reason why we desperately need single payer.
2banon
(7,321 posts)I've heard the disability community campaign against this and I'm frankly disgusted.
I WANT FREEDOM OF CHOICE and you would deny me that!
whatthehey
(3,660 posts)When options to make life bearable degrade and pain increases, I hope her option is open to me. It should be open to everyone, regardless of disability or none, illness or none.
dawnie51
(959 posts)have humbled me. I am in awe of Brittany, and her husband and mother. She has shown us the way to make our own medical decisions with bravery and truth. The usual course is to try for one more good day, just one, and then maybe one more, and soon, there are no more good days, and you are no longer in a situation where you can make your choice for yourself. I had read somewhere that she had decided to wait a little longer, but it looks like Brittany put that out to give her family privacy and peace at the end. God speed, pretty girl.
Ampersand Unicode
(503 posts)Thoughts and best wishes to her family and friends.
Adrahil
(13,340 posts)LongTomH
(8,636 posts).......and may your family find comfort in your memory!
JohninPA
(54 posts)May her memory be eternal.
polichick
(37,626 posts)onecent
(6,096 posts)People so seldom say I love you --- and
then it's either too late -- or love
goes, --- so when I tell you I love
you, --- it doesn't mean I know you'll
never go, only that i wish you didn't
have to.
Lawrence Craig Green
Paper Roses
(7,611 posts)I support her decision. I believe we should all have the right to choose this same route.
Who suffers most under these circumstances? Not only the patient but all friends and family. It is my opinion that Brittany was brave and chose the right thing while she still had a chance to die with dignity.
I hope when my time comes, that I will be able to control the end of my days.
DemoJohnNC
(2 posts)Any disease is terrible to try and live with, but when it's terminal there's just no living at all. Thank you for your courage and sharing this moment with us.
Earth_First
(14,910 posts)bigwillq
(72,790 posts)Glad she did it her way.
democrank
(12,068 posts)~Rest in peace, Brittany~
adigal
(7,581 posts)bradmatt
(1 post)rest in peace.
gopiscrap
(24,529 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts) whatthehey
(3,660 posts)Skittles
(169,281 posts)she was a very brave gal