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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You did good.
living and dying on our own terms... 
You showed so much bravery by your actions in your life and at your death...
My deepest condolences to your family.
Rest In Peace~Brittany Maynard 
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.
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
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.
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.
It's good that she got the choice, others aren't so lucky.
Rest in peace. 
May the angels light your way.
Brittany Maynard
The Angels Weep for your sweet soul~
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.
Peace...
RIP Brittany.
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.
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.
It's heartbreaking to watch. I'm happy she had the choice and the bravery to start this conversation nationwide.
What is the precise problem in doing so? 
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.
I'm really hoping we can get this on the ballot in CA. I like what someone posted, Brittany's Law....
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!
Thoughts and best wishes to her family and friends.
.......and may your family find comfort in your memory!
