Dying? Go to Switzerland

[medeak]

Swiss hospital to allow suicide

Assisted suicide is not illegal in Switzerland
A hospital in Switzerland says it will allow assisted suicide on its premises for terminally ill patients.
A spokesman for the university hospital in Lausanne said the decision was taken after a long reflection.

He added that the conditions for permitting an assisted suicide remained very strict.

The practice is legal in Switzerland, but only for patients who are mentally competent and suffering from an incurable disease.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4539126.stm

[havocmom]

1. Then have your remains shipped to Scandanivia

Is it Sweeden or Norway that has the place that will freeze dry you (liguid nitogen, I believe) then put you in a vibration chamber to shatter you to dust which can be used to make trees grow.

As I am really tense about fire, might like the method even better than creamation.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

3. It has a certain appeal doesn't it?

The whole fire thing is not a pleasant thought.

[havocmom]

5. Yeah, and Havocdad wants to go out in a tux with instructions:

"Shaken, not stirred" ;)

[DELUSIONAL]

4. Thanks for this idea -- I might put this in my will!

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Ship your body between countries, freeze and shatter it?

Very environmentally unfriendly. Just have yourself buried in woodland or pasture - none of this energy-intensive high-tech stuff. Dead animal matter has been recycled for millions of years without the aid of science.

http://www.uk-funerals.co.uk/green-funerals.html

[havocmom]

7. Lots of rules against it in most places.

I know here in MT, such a burial would have to be done within 24 hours of death and there may be some location restrictions. Most states have more rules about it. Probably most require embalming. Our populations are just too large to allow for planting people anywhere. Not especially healthy nor good for aquafers.

[DemExpat]

8. Out of the question in very crowded Netherlands....

otherwise I would pick this option. The freeze drying sounds preferable to me as well (over cremation).....must be childhood fears of burning in hell that I can't shake when I think of a flaming oven.

DemEx

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Crowded Netherlands, as opposed to crowded England?

England: 380/sq. km
Netherlands: 460/sq. km

Not that much difference - and the south east of England is just as crowded as the Netherlands, and there's several burial sites in the south east in that link.

[DemExpat]

12. Your question got me to Google....

and found one such "green" cemetary here in Holland - established in 2003 in the south of Holland in a wooded area.

Thanks, got me linked to this possibilitiy here!

Most other items I read on the subject noted the different structure of the land in Holland - bureaucractically and type of land.
Most people don't warm to the idea of lying somewhere in a pasture - pastures making up a very large proportion of Dutch landscape....:D

This place looks interesting to me - all natural and bio-degradable materials used here.
http://www.uitvaartkompas.nl/themes/april2005/main.php?sub=natuurlijk (site in Dutch)

:hi:

DemEx

[FreedomAngel82]

13. And also

your body will eventually turn to dust anyways. It seems they're just helping the process go along faster to me. But I think if there is no hope and it's known 100% of that than assistant suicide should be there. As a Christian we believe if you committ suicide it's a sin but I don't think it'd be quite so if you're going to die and in horrible pain. I remember watching my grandfather this past summer die of cancer and he was in a lot of pain he couldn't sit or anything like that and they had to always have him on pain killers. I wish he didn't have to go through that. :(

[zanne]

2. A little bit of sanity in a crazy world. nt

[mucifer]

9. Not everyone who is dying wants to commit suicide.

I'm a hospice nurse. Right now, you may think that if you were in that situation you would want suicide. But, believe me many people near death are very comfortable and do not entertain that thought. It's complicated.I do believe there should be more choices in this country. But, I am also saying there are many meds and therapys that are very helpful so that people can live in their homes with their loved ones peacefully until they die.

[medeak]

11. I did hospice for 10 years

and started 3 home health companies.

Believe me... it's not about "suicide".. it's about having pain control and unless every patient has an advocate it's not always possible.

Surely you have witnessed some humanitarian acts with the dying as I have?

[DemExpat]

14. Yes, until I 'helped' my father die in the US with excellent Hospice

care I was adamantly an advocate of euthanasia as is carefully practiced here in The Netherlands.

After Dad's death I have come to appreciate the option of great palliative care as was given by Hospice, so now believe that this choice for active euthanasia should be balanced with a choice for good Hospice care.

DemEx

[0007]

16. Dying at home is the ideal. But many many families discard

the old to the nursing home because of the nasty duties of taking care of the dying. I've been a hospice and aphasia volunteer. This country has little time for the old or the young.

When the quality of life is gone, the volume of medications, doctor visits, hospitals and therapies are just annoying hoops to jump through.

[Deja Q]

15. Can't afford a plane ticket? Check out a library or bookstore.

Alternatives do exist. :(