Three End of Life Poems by Frank Meyskens

Here are three poems by Frank L. Meyskens, Jr.:

  Tidal Wave addresses the feelings engendered in me when a ‘favorite patient’ asked me quite directly to end his life. Pulling the Trigger was my answer. Life Panel was a general answer to Sarah Palin’s ignorant comments about DeathPanels.”  

Meyskens' books of poetry are:
Aching for Tomorrow (2007) and Believing in Today (2014).

Dr. Meyskens is Professor of Medicine, Biological Chemistry and Public Health, College of Health Sciences School of Medicine and Director, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Irvine.  He writes: “I have written a lot about end of life issues including termination of life by physicians. 

At this link, you can access a PDF of all three poems. 

LIFE PANEL

The sickness has revisited
a body wracked, invaded
unremitting, day and night.

Life ebbs, the verdict in.
All systems and technology failing
maxed out with morphine and wonder drugs
vital juices no longer flowing.

Desperate and despondent for hope.
Who should be the jury
no controversy or doubt
that the end is near.

The last great act of living here.
Life closing, shadows abound
Decisions made by a life panel
the one most loved who will
loosen the rope and send me home.

Glenn's Last Tape

When Glenn Scott, a Canadian lecturer, learnt that he had motor neurone disease (ALS) with its inevitably distressing endpoint, he decided to commit suicide in the city he loved most, Rome. He would have preferred the help of a doctor to end his life when he could no longer help himself, but this was illegal in most countries, so he had to devise a plan to kill himself while he still had the ability to mix the cocktail of lethal drugs and drink it.

To draw attention to what he saw as the unfairness of the current laws on euthanasia, he enlisted the help of actor, Miriam Margolyes, and documentary director, Karl Sabbagh, to make this documentary - Glenn's Last Tape - that has never been seen before in the 15 years since Glenn's death, which was recorded on a camera he had set up and seen here in the final moments of this documentary.

The video is 38 minutes.

Screen Shot from the video

Lauren Hill, Who Fought Tumor to Play College Basketball, Dies at 19

Lauren Hill, who played basketball for Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati while contending with an inoperable brain tumor, died on Friday, April 10, 2015 in Cincinnati. She was 19.

This is a moving obituary.




To an Athlete Dying Young by A.E, Housman

Today, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.

 

Physician Assisted Suicide in Canada

PBS NEWSHOUR - 04/01/2015

Canada grapples with how to govern a patient’s right to die

This past March, Canada's Supreme Court ruled unanimously that all Canadians have a constitutional right to have doctors help them die. Special correspondent John Larson reports from British Columbia on how doctors, patients and politicians are grappling with how to set rules and eligibility in the next year. (8 minutes 34 seconds)

 This is an informative report that well worth watching.  Go Canada!!