An excerpt from the Albuquerque Journal guest column, “Give terminally ill option beyond dying of thirst,” by Albuquerque resident Revathi A-Davidson, published February 19, 2021:   “How often have we said, ‘I am dying of thirst,’ with little real sense of what that really means or what it looks like? Witnessing someone, especially a close friend,…

When facing a terminal prognosis, the goal of good end-of-life care is to provide as much physical and emotional comfort as possible. The following options focus on comfort, dignity and quality of life, not curing illness. For many, it is reassuring just to know that options exist. There is no one right answer or choice;…

Beth shared her story in July of 2024. Up until the day before he died, my dad was giving me book recommendations. Always an avid reader, he encouraged in me a lifelong love of books, cribbage and sports. It’s only fitting that the passions he passed on to me in life are now followed by…

Kate Riley shared her story in January of 2023. In 2014, after over a decade of remission, my mother, Vee, received heart-rending news. Her breast cancer was back and it had metastasized – nine malignant tumors, seven were in her bones which caused excruciating pain from the microfractures they produced. I had spent decades volunteering…

Karen and Robert shared their story in April of 2020. In July 2019, our father—J. Lindsley Foote—made one of the most courageous decisions of his life—to stop eating and drinking to end his unbearable suffering. Our dad had suffered increasing pain for many years due to spinal stenosis, which had started over 20 years earlier….

Kari Alice provided Compassion & Choices her story in June of 2020. In March, I was told that I have lung cancer and, without treatment, only have a year to live. I have made the decision to not have chemo, radiation, or immunotherapy. I am unwilling to exchange my quality of life for an extra…

Joey shared her story in November of 2022. During the spring of 2017, something strange started happening with my mother, Maxine. It was barely noticeable at first. She was nervous about stuff she had done a million times. As Passover approached, she was obsessing over preparing the meal and setting the table, which she had…

Brenda shared her story in January of 2022. My husband Paul died slowly in a prison of pain. If medical aid in dying were an option in Delaware, as Paul and I wished it were, he could have avoided those last torturous weeks. I would have made him his favorite meal, cavatelli and broccoli, and…

PJ shared her story in October of 2022. As my wife lay dying, I told everyone at the hospice center that I would be the first to testify when a medical aid-in-dying bill came up in Connecticut. Moregan wanted that law badly. She was ready to move on to the next world and leave her…

Christina shared her story in March of 2022. First my mother, then my brother, showed me what it means to die on your own terms. My mother Annabel Clark was a force of nature. If she got curious about something, she’d study it. My father was a career minister, and when he retired, Mom enrolled…