20210330 : pulling the plug...

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Hello all,
Apologies in advance as this will kick up some dust or offend others. But its a thought thats been bothering me for a long time now and rather than avoid it, as i was not coming up with any answers, i thought I should put it out and see if i find something...

It's a very philosophical question, but very real and not hypothetical ..

When i had my stroke, i was depressed, frustrated, desperate, etc. and hoped everyday would somehow be the last .. just couldn't bear the thought of carrying on...
It could have been anyone, i just pulled the short straw...

Fast forward 26 months and I'm no longer depressed, or desperate, or frustrated , but the thought of "pulling the plug" remains...

Now, its a very rational and pracital question...

For more than 2 years i have seen everyone around me struggle. The emotional burden i have become and not to mention the financial ruin i have set everyone in... Of course everyone around me will deny its a problem and carry on. The thing is, on this path, in a couple of years, folks will be drained emotionally, finantially, and so on..

No Doctor or anyone else has been able to say what's the possible end state or how long it will take to get there..
It could be soon or it could be many many years more. So, its completely open ended.
The only certainty is that it'll be hard, burden on everyone and very expensive.

So, in the good interest of everyone, should we pull the plug? In my case, that's a question that should have been posed over 2 years back.. it would undoubtedly be a lot of grief. But it would be short lived and everyone is forced to move on with some time..

Its not unnatural. Thats the only guaranteed thing in living. Its not uncommon to see someone Check Out suddenly. Its a proposition everyone has been forced to contemplate when i was in the ICU , unconscious most of 3 weeks.

 In fact, it's against natural order to keep someone artificially alive with peg tube for feed, trachiostomy for breathing and other medications to boot. Frankly, i wouldn't have made it one day after the stroke if not for the intervention of modern medicine.

So do we not use modern medical intervention at all to respect natural order. Not really. That's not what I'm implying. Every other category of ailment im aware of, has a high degree of being able to predict the outcome of medical intervention. If it is not possible to address the ailment, that is also certain.

So should we make an assessment of extent of damage and determine if recovery is even possible for the patient to be able to have a semblance of living normally and independently? If not, considering all circumstances, should we pull the plug?

If the argument holds water, who would be able to decide?
Not the Doctors, we rely on them to save lives, not the other way around.
It can't be various therapists. They have a picture restricted to their domain and we rely on them to improve various faculties.
It's too emotional a call for the close family at any time to make.
The patient in question cant be relied on to make a call, it's the brain thats unreliable in the first place..


So who could make an independent and uninfluenced call?

How do we practically and rationally argue against this line of thinking without relying on entities like God/ faith/ karma/ etc.?? ( I assume atheists have strokes too).

Let me know any thoughts, so i can argue with myself.. right now, im losing the argument....


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