DNR Order Mission Creep?

DNR Order Mission Creep? » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: A Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNR), is not the same thing as a “do not treat” request, although there is sometimes confusion in that regard. It simply means that if the patient has a cardiac arrest, the medical team (or nursing home personnel) are instructed to not try and revive the patient. It is not the same thing as the patient stating, “I want to die now,” or “don’t do anything to keep me alive.” It says, don’t give me CPR.

That is why an article in Medical News Today has Wesley J. Smith concerned. It suggests that patients with a DNR be dissuaded from receiving (or denied?) life-extending surgery based on poorer outcomes for such people than those without DNRs receiving the same procedures.

Billboard Advertises 'Right To Die'

Billboard Advertises 'Right To Die' - Boston News Story - WCVB Boston: A national group that promotes 'the right to die' is spreading its message to Boston. Final Exit Network believes competent adults with fatal, painful diseases should be able to end their lives. The network has erected billboards all over the country to spread its message with words some might consider compassionate, and others, outrageous. The billboard towering over East Boston is black and white and straightforward. It reads 'Irreversible Illness? Unbearable suffering? Die With Dignity.'

Fearful elderly people carry 'anti-euthanasia cards'

Fearful elderly people carry 'anti-euthanasia cards' - Telegraph: The Dutch Patients’ Association (NPV) has 70,000 members, of whom at least 6,000 have “living will declarations” stating that they do not want euthanasia if they are taken into hospital or a nursing home. Other Dutch people, however, make written declarations of their “will to die."

Lawsuit to legalize assisted suicide filed in British Columbia

Lawsuit to legalize assisted suicide filed in B.C. - British Columbia - CBC News: A B.C. woman who escorted her ill 89-year-old mother on a trip to end her life in Switzerland last year is challenging the law that makes the same act a criminal offence in Canada. Lee Carter and her husband filed a suit in B.C. Supreme Court Tuesday seeking to allow mentally competent adults suffering from incurable serious illness the right to physician-assisted suicide.

Mercy killer escapes jail over 'agonising conflict'

Mercy killer escapes jail over 'agonising conflict': A man who suffocated his chronically ill partner with a plastic bag has avoided jail, with a judge saying he was faced with an 'agonising conflict.' David Scott Mathers, 66, was handed a suspended sentence of two years today for the manslaughter of Eva Griffith in 2009 at her Ashfield home. He was also put on a two-year good behaviour bond.

Latest issue of Caring Right at Home

• Stroke Caregivers Face Their Own Health Challenges  
• A Lifetime of Noise Takes a Toll on Baby Boomers' Hearing  
• Physicians Urged to Be Alert for Signs of Elder Financial Abuse

Read it all here.

He is Risen Indeed!

O Death, Where is Thy Sting? O Grave, Where is Thy Victory?

The most important thing did not happen in Washington or London, in Athens or in Rome. Nor did it happen in Cairo or Beijing. It happened in Jerusalem. The women who ran from that empty tomb, from which a great stone had been rolled away, bore the good news. He is not here. He is Risen! That Good News is the foundation of all truth. . . . 

While critical temporal issues are important, they do not endure. Jesus does. He is both Lord of and central to human history. He was not the first person to rise from the dead. Remember the story of Lazarus? Dead four days, this beloved brother of Mary and Martha had been buried in Bethany. When Jesus came to them, they told him if he had only been there, their brother Lazarus would not have died. Jesus joined in the mourning of those who loved Lazarus. He wept. But then he called upon Lazarus to come out of the grave. Lazarus came back from the dead! . . .

But there is a difference between Lazarus and Jesus. Lazarus, we may assume, took full advantage of his second opportunity at life, but died again. Not Jesus. Jesus, who died for our sins, was raised from the dead to eternal life. And just as we believe not in Lazarus, but in Jesus, Christians too are promised that we will be raised to eternal life. . . .

Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith. The builders may have rejected Him, but we cling to our Savior, our faith, to the very hem of His garment. With Doubting Thomas, we say: "My Lord and my God!"

It is this Risen Lord who conquered sin and death that we may have life, and have it abundantly. Hallelujah!

Read this piece by FRC's Robert Morrison in full here.

The impact of eugenic abortion on parents and families

New medical technologies, including a new test for Down syndrome, have increased the ability of doctors to test for disabilities and genetic disorders before birth. Parents usually see these tests as a way to assure themselves that their unborn child will be healthy. Medical professionals and scientists, on the other hand, often see the tests as a tool to find and eliminate "defects" through abortion.

This article from the Eliot Institute is the first in a three-part series on prenatal testing and abortion. Part 1 looks at what available research reveals about the impact of eugenic abortion on parents and families. Parts 2 and 3 will discuss how pressure and coercion from the medical community are often used to bring about these abortions, and what we can do to help parents who are facing a negative prenatal diagnosis.

Editor: You may be wondering, what's this article doing here? Why isn't it on one of BFL's other blogs that deal with abortion? Here's why: Eugenic abortion -- also known as "therapeutic" abortion, done when parents receive a poor prenatal diagnosis -- is where the issues of abortion and euthanasia meet. We're currently updating our LIFT manual to include a section on perinatal hospice and ministry to the disabled. That's why we've been including articles like this on this blog for the past few months.

Resource for Mesothelioma patients

Mesothelioma cancer typically appears in a late stage, defying conventional treatments and forcing many patients to take a palliative care path. MesotheliomaTreatment.net provides comprehensive mesothelioma information, including how professionals frequently use palliative care to improve and extend the lives of patients.

‘Dr Death’ euthanasia DVD shown to 14-year-olds

‘Dr Death’ euthanasia DVD shown to 14-year-olds | News | The Christian Institute: School children in the UK are being shown footage of a notorious campaigner known as “Dr Death” demonstrating a lethal injection machine in a DVD about euthanasia. The DVD is being shown to children aged 14 to 18, mainly those who are studying philosophy which includes euthanasia in the curriculum.

BREAKING: Baby Joseph defies medical opinion by breathing completely on his own

BREAKING: Baby Joseph is home: defies critics by breathing completely on his own | LifeSiteNews.com: Baby Joseph and his family arrived in Windsor, Ontario on a medical transport flight from St. Louis, Missouri, this morning. He is now at the family home. The family said their son was weaned off ventilator support 12 days ago and has been successfully breathing on his own since then.

Alzheimer's Caregiving Center

Alzheimer's Care: The Role of the Caregiver Of all the people involved in Alzheimer's care, the caregiver may be the most important. Find out how a caregiver fits into an Alzheimer's patient's health care team, and learn what to expect as Alzheimer's progresses. Get more on the role of the Alzheimer's caregiver.

Communication Tips for Alzheimer's Caregivers For a person with Alzheimer's, finding the right words to say, as well as understanding what others say, becomes increasingly difficult. Learn what to expect as a caregiver, and find out how you can improve communication with your loved one. Get Alzheimer's communication tips.

Alzheimer's Disease Information and Support It's important to arm yourself with the best resources possible to help your loved one — and yourself — deal with the stresses of Alzheimer's disease. Find out about reputable organizations that offer education, training, and support for Alzheimer's caregivers.

Caregiving in Early Alzheimer's Disease To help your loved one during the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, you'll need to become familiar with the common symptoms of Stage I, as well as deal with long-term planning. Find out how you can best help your loved one cope with the challenges of early Alzheimer's disease.

Find more at the Alzheimer's Caregiving Center

Baby Joseph going home

Baby Joseph is coming home: The Windsor infant at the centre of an international right-to-life debate is coming home Thursday after spending months in London and U.S. hospitals.

Emphasis on Earlier Diagnosis in New Alzheimer's Guidelines

Emphasis on Earlier Diagnosis in New Alzheimer's Guidelines - ScienceInsider: For the first time in 27 years, researchers have released new criteria for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease. With tests to pick up the earliest stages of the disease not yet ready for widespread use, the new guidelines will have little immediate impact on patients, but they are intended to provide a framework for research and to hopefully prepare clinicians for the day when effective treatments become available.

From a doctor who changed her mind

From a doctor who changed her mind: "I, as a young person, was strongly in favor of legalization of assisted suicide. I think I was somewhat naïve at the time, you know, kind of doctrinaire about my commitment to patient self-determination and patient autonomy. And as I got a bit older and had more experience taking care of patients and families, and realizing that autonomy was not really relevant to the human condition – We are all parts of families and parts of communities and critically dependent on one another in ways that notions of self-determination and autonomy pretend don’t exist. . . . [T]he movement to legalize assisted suicide is overwhelmingly driven by the ‘worried well.’"

Is your church safe for sad people?

Guthrie on Sad People, Safe Churches – The Gospel Coalition Blog: Most of us are uncomfortable with sadness, as individuals and as churches. We want to fix people and help them to feel better, and we are far less patient than God is with the process he uses to bring healing.

But making a church a safe place for sad people is about much more than providing personal and practical support. A social club can do that. The gospel is what provides the solid truth that grieving people need to inform their feelings and undergird their hope. For a church to be a safe place for sad people does not merely mean that we offer comfort and acceptance. Sometimes it means that we gently but boldly challenge misbeliefs or misunderstandings of Scripture.

Actor Patrick Stewart: Assisted suicide should be a ‘right’

Actor Patrick Stewart: assisted suicide should be a ‘right’ | LifeSiteNews.com: Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame has come out as a proponent of assisted suicide. In an interview with the Sunday Times yesterday the actor expressed his support for Dignity in Dying, a group campaigning for a change to the UK law banning assisted suicide, saying the choice to have an assisted death “should be a right.”

Adult caregiver group meeting tonight

The Adult Child Caregiver group meets tonight at Cornerstone Church, south of Grand Rapids, MI.  We will be watching the Memory Loss Tapes. Our group meets from 7-8:30. The Church is located at the corner of Kalamazoo and 84th Street. If you have further questions please call us at SarahCare!

Phone: 616.530.6700

www.sarahcare.com

Turning the Page Expo: April 28

Learn more at http://turningthepageexpo.com/.

Turning the Page Expo will feature 60 organizations focused on:
Care In Your Home Assistance with meals, cleaning, shopping, bathing, dressing, and companionship Nursing visits Wound care, medications, and IVs Therapies Assisted living centers, rehabilitation centers, durable medical equipment, Support Information Hospice care, legal and financial information 12 Breakout Sessions Enjoy Entertainment and much more!!! Admission is FREE - free coffee and cookies provided	• • • •

Swedish doctor charged with mercy killing

Swedish doctor charged with mercy killing - UPI.com: The physician is accused of speeding up the baby's death by administering a high dose of an anesthetic in combination with morphine. The 3-month-old female infant was born 15 weeks premature with serious brain damage.

‘Cheerleading’ BBC to show an assisted suicide on TV

‘Cheerleading’ BBC to show an assisted suicide on TV | News | The Christian Institute: The BBC stands accused of being a cheerleader for assisted suicide after deciding to show a man with motor neurone disease killing himself at a facility in Switzerland. Due to be aired in the summer on BBC2, it will be the first time an assisted suicide has been shown on British terrestrial television. The death will be featured in a documentary fronted by pro-euthanasia campaigner, Sir Terry Pratchett.

Switzerland About to Permit Nursing Home Assisted Suicides

Switzerland About to Permit Nursing Home Assisted Suicides » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: As if the suicide clinics weren’t bad enough, now nursing homes in one area of Switzerland will soon be allowed to facilitate suicides by residents.

Doctors pushed paralyzed man to refuse ventilator and die

Doctors pushed paralyzed Irish man to refuse ventilator and die | LifeSiteNews.com: In a powerful op-ed in today’s Irish Times, an Irish man with degenerative motor neurone disease has revealed how he was heavily pressured by the medical community to refuse the ventilator that is keeping him alive.

State of the Art Rehabilitation Center to be Dedicated to the Memory of Terri Schindler Schiavo

State of the Art Rehabilitation Center to be Dedicated to the Memory of Terri Schindler Schiavo - Standard Newswire: The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network is honored to announce that New Beginnings Community Center of Medford, NY, will be dedicating their center to the memory of Terri Schindler Schiavo. New Beginnings is a state of the art outpatient rehabilitative facility for Veteran's, Traumatic Brain Injury Survivors and other cognitively and physically disabled persons. It is designed to provide rehabilitation, management and recovery services in an exceptional, stimulating and safe environment.

Assisted suicides increase in 2010

Assisted suicide organisation Exit helped 257 people to die in 2010. - swissinfo: The assisted suicide organisation Exit helped 257 people to die in 2010, an increase of 15 per cent over the 2009 total of 217 assisted deaths. The organisation, which has a branch in both the German and French-speaking parts of Switzerland, saw its overall membership rise by 4,000 to 70,000 people. Those who avail themselves of Exit’s services must first become members.

Unclear end-of-life concepts cloud euthanasia debate

QUT | News | Unclear end-of-life concepts cloud euthanasia debate: A genuine public debate on 'legalising euthanasia' can only happen after a clear distinction is made between assisted suicide and euthanasia and the withholding, refusal, or withdrawal of life-sustaining measures, says a Queensland University of Technology law academic.

Improving Care at the End of Life

Arch Intern Med -- Improving Care at the End of Life, April 11, 2011, Grudzen and Grady 0 (2011): archinternmed.2011.132v1: It is widely assumed that more medical care (ie, more tests and procedures) results in better outcomes and that adequately treating pain and other symptoms brings death closer, but there is mounting evidence to suggest otherwise. In addition to the risk of harm that is inherent in all tests and procedures and the discomfort associated with much end-of-life care, new evidence suggests that treating patients' pain and other symptoms is associated with improvements in physical status and may even lengthen survival.

Related: Honoring patients' wishes for less care

At the end of life, sometimes less is more

5 ways to help prevent Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's Disease Prevention - Alzheimer's Center - EverydayHealth.com: Even though no drug therapy or treatment regimen has yet been found that will definitively prevent Alzheimer's disease, lifestyle choices can make a big difference in your risk of developing the condition down the line. Researchers are now discovering, in fact, that certain healthy habits and lifestyle practices appear to reduce your chances of developing Alzheimer's — and they say it's never too early to begin making healthy changes.

UK assisted suicide campaigner commits suicide at Swiss ‘clinic’

UK assisted suicide campaigner commits suicide at Swiss ‘clinic’: had arthritis | LifeSiteNews.com: Nan Maitland, a retired occupational therapist and founder of the campaign group Society for Old Age Rational Suicide (SOARS), was not terminally ill but suffered from arthritis. Most of all, she said, she feared the physical consequences of old age and intractable pain. As a member of the movement to legalize assisted suicide in Britain, Maitland was described by the group Friends at the End (FATE), as “very active.”

For Dying People, A Chance To Shape Their Legacy

For Dying People, A Chance To Shape Their Legacy : NPR: Imagine that you've just been told you have only a short time to live. What would you want your family and community to remember most about you? In St. Louis, a hospice program called Lumina helps patients leave statements that go beyond a simple goodbye.

CANADIAN PAEDIATRIC SOCIETY | Withholding and withdrawing artificial nutrition ethically acceptable

CANADIAN PAEDIATRIC SOCIETY | Withholding and withdrawing artificial nutrition ethically acceptable, advise paediatricians: The Canadian Paediatric Society wants to help health care providers faced with difficult end-of-life decisions, with a new paper on withholding or withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH). The CPS says that withholding or withdrawing ANH is both legally and ethically acceptable as part of a palliative care plan.

'The discussion on whether to withhold or withdraw artificial nutrition and hydration is happening more and more,' said Dr. Ellen Tsai, chair of the CPS Bioethics Committee, and author of the new CPS practice point published today in Paediatrics & Child Health. 'It's a difficult topic, one where physicians are being asked questions by both parents and their health care colleagues. They need guidance to navigate the complexity of the issue. Saying we don't withhold or withdraw ANH isn't a sufficient response anymore.'

ANH refers to nutrition or hydration that is delivered by artificial means, such as via a feeding tube or intravenously. Legal and ethics experts say there is no difference between withholding or withdrawing ANH versus other therapies that sustain or prolong life.

NHS Meltdown: And the Rationing Increases

NHS Meltdown: And the Rationing Increases » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: The National Health Service (UK) has gone from rationing the most expensive for whom to care and the elderly, to a general withholding of care to people with regular conditions.

Proposed Italian law bans starvation and dehydration of terminal patients

Proposed Italian law bans starvation and dehydration of terminal patients | LifeSiteNews.com: The Italian Chamber of Deputies has begun to debate a new bill that would prohibit the starvation and dehydration of patients, even if they have completed a “living will” authorizing it. According to the bill, nutrition and hydration are not medical therapies, but rather “vital support” for patients.

Brain rewiring

Brain rewiring: Compared to a sleek new laptop, that 1.3kg mass of fatty tissue called the brain may not look like much. But when it’s injured, it adapts and rewires its circuits in new ways. That’s the kind of flexibility that doctors and rehabilitation specialists hope to encourage in Gabrielle Giffords, the brain-injured Arizona congresswoman.

Bone marrow stem cells may provide treatment for brain injuries

Bone marrow stem cells may provide treatment for brain injuries: Scientists have safely used stem cells derived from a patient's own bone marrow in pediatric patients with traumatic brain injury.

Teen Returns Home 2 Months After Hospital Turns Off Life Support

Teen Returns Home 2 Months After Hospital Turns Off Life Support - FoxNews.com: Doctors forecasted that Kimberly McNeill, 18, would never recover from her severe injuries and 15 days after being transferred to Auckland City Hospital, authorities turned off the life support machine. Defying the odds, she pulled through and this week, two months after the wreck, which nearly claimed her life, returned to her parents' home in Napier, on New Zealand's North Island, to continue her rehabilitation.

Brain injury was 'blessing'

Austin at Work: Brain injury was 'blessing,' man says: Three years ago, he was struck by a driver in a hit-and-run and suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him incapable of taking care of himself. But thanks to therapy and medical services through the Mary Lee Foundation's program for people with brain injuries, Jake Williams is new again. Now, he works with others with similar and more severe disabilities. 'I think that gives me an advantage,' he says. 'I look at all these people, and to me, they're normal.'

Music from the Heart

Educational evening from the Alzheimer's Association

The Alzheimer’s Association will be offering two presentations in one evening in Grand Haven, MI. Please join us on May 12, 2011 from 6-9 PM for an evening of valuable information for anyone caring for a person with dementia.

The Basics of Alzheimer’s Disease
Presented by Christiana Getz, Program Coordinator, Alzheimer’s Association

• Symptoms and effects of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia 
• How to find out if it’s Alzheimer’s disease 
• Causes, risk factors, stages, and treatment of the disease 
• The benefits of early detection, and hope for the future 
• How to address the diagnosis, and how the Alzheimer’s Association can help 

and

Legal and Financial Issues
Presented by Thomas Reinsma and Ryan C. Keenan, Elder Law Attorneys, Scholten Fant, Grand Haven

• Arrangements for making financial and medical decisions for a person with dementia 
• Planning for future care needs: understanding Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans Benefits 

Learn more: GH Alzheimer's Presentation

Latest edition of Life Matters features LIFT

Is AIDS a death sentence or a life opportunity? Find out how Kyle and Heather Farran are meeting the challenge in the most AIDS-ridden spot on the planet. Life Matters

Follow Reece's Rainbow

Reece’s Rainbow, an international Down syndrome orphan ministry that provides adoption grants, advocacy, and birth family support for children with DS -- because every family deserves a child with Down syndrome.

On her Facebook page actress Patricia Heaton wrote she will donate $10,000 to Reese’s Rainbow once it reaches 10,000 Twitter followers. If you tweet, follow Reece's Rainbow and help them get this gift! (I'm follower # 6923.)

Locked-in sufferer: I will not give up on life

Locked-in sufferer: I will not give up on life | News | The Christian Institute: Kevin Weller has been unable to move or speak since he suffered the devastating stroke at the age of 32, but still says he feels happy. And despite the difficulties he faces because of his condition, known as ‘locked-in syndrome’, Mr Weller is adamant that he will not give up on life.

'Unproductive burdens' still have a right to live

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition: 'Unproductive burdens' still have a right to live: "One patient of mine, a woman with disabilities and minimal self-confidence, received a cruel letter from a close relative effectively telling her she should be dead, and demanding certain arrangements in her will. She then developed cancer. Consider such family dynamics in a setting of legalised euthanasia, and ask what the 'right to die' would mean to a cancer patient so isolated and intimidated."

Aging Is Not a Disease

Aging Is Not a Disease » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: Would immortality be good for us? Would I want to live forever? No way.

Do Profoundly Disabled People Have Parental Rights?

Do Profoundly Disabled People Have Parental Rights? » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: A woman gave birth to triplets five years ago and suffered terrible complications that rendered her with a profound cognitive disability. A year later the husband divorced her. Now he is in a fight with her parents over the extent of visitation the children should be allowed with their mother.

Elderly Belgian couple euthanized together

March » 2011 » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: An elderly couple didn’t want to live without each other. So, they received a joint euthanasia. Apparently the local community knew they were planning it, as you will see by playing the embed above. From the “euthanasia expert” quoted in the story:

It is an important signal to break a taboo. This can be viewed as a normal way of dying and viewed as such by the community at large. . . . Non terminal partners, as we call them, also have the option of dying together. It’s legally possible. There are no legal difficulties [in Belgium]. It is only less well known.

Euthanasia for organ harvesting: Sci-fi?

tothesource: When Jack Kevorkian advocated harvesting organs from assisted suicide victims in his 1991 book Prescription Medicide, people were appalled. Then, when he actually acted on his beliefs, stripping the kidneys of Joseph Tushkowski, a quadriplegic ex police officer Kevorkian assisted in suicide, offering them at a press conference, “first come, first served,” people were stunned. Who could be so ghoulish? However, Kevorkian’s macabre notion had turned a key in the deadbolt. The idea of coupling euthanasia with organ harvesting began to receive respectful consideration in medical and bioethics professional journals.