by Solskin Iam
Member since:
July 30, 2008

what is qualitity of life to you????

July 12, 2009 07:21 PM EDT
views: 48 | comments: 20

in answering Esther's post about living an extended life i noticed that some, including myself, mentioned qualitity of life.....

i am interested in what others percieve qualitity of life to be......

i will give you a for instance for me....... just before i had my first stroke for months i could not urinate...it is possible i had a TIA that caused this.... i would try for hours and hours.....running water the whole nine yards and finally i could a little.....

i went to the urologist......the first thing they did was to fill my bladder completely......then the deal was for me to go into an inclosed bathroom and they would give me a go signal and measure what i was able to pass............................

so there i sat..... a man on the other side of the wall knocking.....signal to go..... i could not... he just kept knocking.....over and over....by then i was yelling..... i can't....... finally they got the message and a nurse came to get me..... i was soooooooo miserable......

then they had to use a cather..... after that it was talk time with the doctor.....he told me they would have to teach me how to catherize myself...... NO.... i will not do that..... he looked at me.... we both knew that in all probably i would get uremic poisoning..... i told the doctor.....there is life and then there is qualitity of life..... that is not qualitity of life to me.... i was very surprised but he agreed with me.....

the problem was taken care of in a few weeks..... with the fist stroke i lost partial bladder control.... the pendulum swung completely the other way..... but this i could handle and worked very hard and got control back...

there have been many other things in my life.... being in this wheelchair for 17 months now gives me much pause to think.....but then my good buddy rob kind of, but not really, gets on to me....so i am hanging in there....

soooooooo qualitity of life........what is it for you??

 

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Comments: 20

Chuck L. Jul 12, 2009, 7:42pm EDT

Wow!  Damifino Solskin.  Somewhere between you and Steve Reeves?  Iron lung 'til death?  Burned to death but not dead yet?  Brain tumor - inoperable, terminal and expanding?

Somewhere in there, I reckon I'd say, "Nuffa this!  Let's be done with it."
Solskin Iam Jul 12, 2009, 8:08pm EDT

chuck.......born dead and sick ever since there have been many times when i have said......let's be done with it....but it has not happened....
Beth G. Jul 12, 2009, 7:56pm EDT

Absolutely I would go for quality of life as long as it was medically and religiously (I'm a Roman Catholic) would allow. I believe if was an end of life issue, we should be as compassionate as we can, as well as work on the quality of pain managment.
Linda T. Jul 12, 2009, 10:23pm EDT

To me quality of life would be measured by how much I am able to still enjoy life.  If I am in too much pain or in any condition where living is more torture than pleasure than it is time to go.
Stacy Farr Jul 16, 2009, 4:34am EDT
To me quality of life is just BEING alive and having my family around. I know it sounds corny and everyone has the same general answer, but I believe it with all my heart. I love being alive the goods and bads and struggles, whatever. I want to live forever, but I have lost 3 very important people in my life, and its near impossible to live without them, but it makes me cherish my family I have with me all the more.
Netty B. Jul 17, 2009, 7:12pm EDT
To me quality of life is when I still recognize everyone. And I do not want to be kept alive by machines, just let me go.
Just stopping by to PIF>>>
charity kimball ツ Aug 6, 2009, 2:39am EDT
wow sorry you had to go threw with that would be scary. I also agree with Netty. PIF
joseph k. Aug 6, 2009, 7:59am EDT
sorry you had to go through that pif
Laura C. Aug 6, 2009, 8:30am EDT
quaility of life for me means being able to take care of myself with little or no assistance..this is important to me since i'm legally blind and have no choice but to have to rely on others sometimes...I just want to be my own primary caregiver for as long as possible.
Nancy Biri Aug 6, 2009, 11:34am EDT
My husband is the same way. He don't want machines to keep him alive.
Lona Herling Aug 6, 2009, 12:21pm EDT
So sorry things have to be this way.
PIF
Renita P. Aug 6, 2009, 1:22pm EDT
Quality of life means being healthy enough to enjoy your loved ones and being able to care for yourself with minimal help. I'd rather be able to care for myself completely until it's my time to go, but I'd rather have the time with my loved ones, if it came down to a choice.
PIF
d d. Aug 6, 2009, 2:48pm EDT
I do not want machines to keep me alive. *pif
Donald M. Aug 6, 2009, 2:50pm EDT
I guess my quality of life is that I have someone who loves me enough to help me . Get showered and dressed when I cannot do it myself. I am thankful, when my feet hit the floor every morning and I can still walk. ,,,doctors tell me that may not be much longer if my legs dont get better.
connie h. Aug 6, 2009, 3:35pm EDT
I'm sorry you go threw this pif
Michelle S. Aug 6, 2009, 4:09pm EDT
if my organs are functioning; i'm good. if i need artificial means to keep my organs going, with no hope of an improvement; i feel that isn't quality. but there is a fine line drawn in the sand as to when to let me go. i do have a dnr order with all the other paperwork i've completed. if i can't enjoy life; then why prolong it. pif
Donna W. Aug 6, 2009, 9:24pm EDT
I feel sorry for the ones whoi are on life support its a terrible way to be.
PIF
HEIDI F. Aug 6, 2009, 11:28pm EDT
that's a difficult question.
Marilyn M. Aug 7, 2009, 8:13am EDT
I'm really sorry to hear about all that you've been through. I sure hope things improve. As to your question, I'm not sure how to answer it. I've seen loved ones endure an awful lot. I think that as long as there's a fighting spirit within an individual, there enough to hold on to. Everyone is different and I'm not sure we really ever know until we're there ourselves where we'd draw the line... ~pif~
Karen L. Aug 8, 2009, 3:06pm EDT
That is a very difficult question to answer because I am sure that every case is different. I already know that I never want to live on life support, or to suffer terribly at any time, but that is hard to judge, Hmmmm......Good question to ponder!
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