The current generation of frail elderly is prone to medical neglect.  To combat their tendancy toward self-reliance  (and their denial of impending mortality), Canadian MD Mark Nowashinsky makes house calls. Yesterday's CBC "Sunday" program showed  his visit to a 90 year old diabetic who had not seen a dr. in over 30 years.

"Without care, he would only have lasted a few more months", Mark said, "And the sad thing is, the cause of death would have been listed as 'natural causes'."

The population aged 55-70 will double in the next decade, and we will be desperate to find caregivers. How about an educational "ladder", with credit for prior learning, so an ambulance attendant could, for instance, become an RN or MD over time?

Weems' reply includes: "I would rather my chilluns and granchilluns not have to be held back by my needs. It's a matter of what can I do when I can no longer contribute. When is it time? And can I choose it? Will I have the foresight to choose it just before I no longer have the ability?"

If you would consider voluntarily ending your life, what would your criteria include?

Mom's had friends who chose what she calls "self check-out". In several cases, a gentle end, for one, a violent method that horrifed both his wife and all residents of the 'home'. My Dad asked my brother (also an MD) to write a 'scrip; he said no. Dad died by the inch.

This excerpt from William Carlos Williams' "The Last Worlds of My English Grandmother" says it all for me.