EuthaNEWSia (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Dan Treecraft, 61, is suffering from terminal stage tongue cancer and has decided to take his own life. The report explains:

Diagnosed with tongue cancer last winter, Treecraft, who didn't smoke or chew tobacco, was given six to 24 months to live. He isn't holding out for a miracle cure. He's not even seeking treatment.

If he's nervous about the coming day when he plans to slip a small mask over his mouth and nose and begin to breathe nitrogen gas, he doesn't let on. If all goes according to plan, he will lose consciousness and die from asphyxiation. Perhaps this summer. He has publicly embraced this choice. In June he invited friends to a party - part roast and part wake.

Later in the report: One of Treecraft's friends at the wake was Dr. Ryan Holbrook, a surgical oncologist with Cancer Care Northwest. He doesn't agree with Treecraft's plans, but he respects his friend's choice.

"What I hope we can learn from Dan is this: We need to love, respect and honor the wishes of our loved ones," Holbrook said. Oftentimes patients and their families pull out all the stops. People who can't bear the thought of their elderly parents dying subject them to treatments that keep them alive, though heavily sedated, and bed-bound for their final few months. "We don't tend to see death as a normal thing that happens to all of us," Holbrook said. "Maybe what we should be doing is providing comfort, and valuing their memories and stories."

And: Treecraft doesn't want modern medicine playing a role in his death, so he's not seeking help from a doctor. Holbrook, who is not Treecraft's doctor, did talk to his friend about tongue cancer and counseled him to listen to his physician. Palliative care has made big strides, and cancer patients don't have to live in misery year after year.

But Treecraft is resolute, deciding six months ago he wouldn't subscribe to the standard medical approach.

To read the full article click on one of these links, both of which go to the same destination. A short link is provided for the convenience of readers. Also, readers may search and browse past and future advisories on the web (see bottom.)

Stucke, John. "The last word against cancer". The Spokesman-Review. July 18, 2010. <www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jul/18/the-last-word-against-cancer/>. The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210, U.S.A.

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The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201007191356.
Mailed: Monday, July 19, 2010 14:38:20 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>.

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