Euthanasia solves a retirement of disease?

Agnes and her husband, Bill, had magnificent plans for retirement but so far it has been nothing but one disease after another, and major surgery, and it is sad to think that this once vibrant couple, still in their late sixties, is contemplating a double suicide to cope with a time when they can no longer carry on.

“We are very lucky to have each other for companionship, and so far have avoided a move to a retirement home,” says Agnes, “but what with my cancer and Bill’s diabetes and heart problems we are really struggling.”

“When I took back and remember all the years we spent planning for our retirement and all the wonderful things we were going to do, I am heartbroken,” cries Agnes. “Rather than planning, we should have been doing, but there was no way then that we could have known we were heading for a retirement of disease, not ease.”

“Financially we’re okay, we can afford the best medical attention, treatment, home help and nursing,” says Agnes, “but this is not what we bargained on spending our nest egg money on, at least not so soon into our retirement, and at some point down the line, with increasing medical costs, we may get into trouble.”

“But money is the least of our problems, it’s the horrible realization that we are no longer in charge of our lives,” confides Agnes. “Every waking minute of our lives is governed by doctors, pills, special diets, therapies and the most awful fears imaginable.”

“Because Bill has two diseases, diabetes and heart trouble, I feel compelled to give him more attention than I give to myself,” confesses Agnes. “He is likely to go at any minute, despite his medication, but with cancer my death is likely to be long-drawn out.”

“We’ve discussed death and would rather go out together rather than wait for a catastrophe,” confides Agnes. “There’s no cure for our diseases, they will just progress until life is no longer worth living, and we don’t want to face that terrible fate.”

“It’s not just cancer, diabetes and heart disease that plague us,” explains Agnes. “We suffer from all the minor age-related complaints, too. You know - eyes, joints, hearing and stomach troubles.”

“Bill has more trouble with arthritis than I do,” sighs Agnes. “He played a lot of sport in his youth and that probably accounts for it. It breaks my heart to see him struggling to walk and get up from a chair.”

“How did all of this happen to us?” asks Agnes. “We lived a very healthy lifestyle, moderate drinking, no smoking or drugs or fatty foods, and we’re both as slim as we were many years ago.”

“Outwardly, we still look good for our ages, I suppose,” says Agnes, “but how appearances can deceive!”

“We’re trying both conventional and alternative medicine to help with the quality of our lives,” says Agnes, “but it is very tiring attending appointments with acupuncturists, herbalists, aromatherapists, massage therapists, etc as well as a multitude of conventional doctors to deal with each of our diseases.”

“Everything we once enjoyed is no longer possible – including sex,” sighs Agnes. “Our diets are so restricted that cooking and eating has become mechanical, rather than enjoyable. In fact, we ingest more pills than we do food. Together, we’re getting through about 30 pills daily.”

“We hug each other every morning and night, and every opportunity we can, feeling blessed that we still have each other and can comfort each other, and because we know that this bond we have is keeping us alive, the thought of one of us losing the other is too much to bear.”

“We have no children, nobody will miss us,” explains Agnes. “To plan and execute our own final exit is the only control we really have left in our lives. Euthanasia is not something we care to discuss with our doctors. Their business is to keep us alive, no matter how miserable our lives have become.”

“We’re not religious, we don’t believe in a life hereafter,” says Agnes, “and because life has dealt us a lousy hand, we believe we have the right to end it as we please.”