Looking for Advice/Information on Legal VSED with Hospice Help

[WearyWanderer]

I may have the ability to be eligible for VSED and hospice after beginning the first couple of days on my own.

However, I definitely have some concerns and this method was never my first choice.

It's looking like my possible only choice though at this point.


Does anyone on the forum happen to know of VSED cases like Christina Symanski, where the patient was fairly young and suffering from spinal issues/pain but was able to endure the process.

I'm worried because I have some odd reactions to morphine which is the painkiller they use. It causes me intense head pressure like my brain and ears are going to explode and pop, the sensation that my legs are 100 pounds and I can't physically lift them, hypnagogic jerks possibly, an extremely uncomfortable dampening sensation in my brain (this is probably partly due to my ventriculomegaly so when the morphine went into my spinal fluid it also went into my brain).

I'm also hypoglycemic and get weak and faint after even just a few hours of not eating and drinking enough. According to one volunteer, this can be a good thing because she thought I would pass out and not be fully conscious of everything but I'm honestly not so sure.

My incredibly severe nervous system sensitivity has never fucking been an advantage in life only a terrible curse in all other circumstances.

I've seen accounts here of people who attempted VSED but without oversight and who vomited or had seizures. Both those symptoms sound unbearable to me in my already weakened, bedbound state but with my luck I would likely develop them. Does anyone know if there's natural ways to prevent this from happening or if maybe the reason Christina Symanski ended up drinking part of the time during her process was because that was the only way she could make it bearable?

Yes, two months is an excruciating amount of time but if it was the difference between pushing through the discomfort and symptoms and going a bit longer vs feeling forced to stop early due to say agitation and deliriium from no water then I can understand her reasoning and there must have been a reason why she ended up doing it that way I would think.

Any insights or advice on situations similar to this are greatly encouraged and appreciated.

Based on my descriptions and the fact that I have connective tissue disorder, med sensitivities, naturally low blood pressure, genetically weak and defective nervous system, current Candida overgrowth, long term antibiotic neurotoxicity and brain damage, possible long COVID side effects masked by numbness, extreme proneness to UTI, do you think I could still be a VSED candidate?

Supposedly the answer is yes based on the person I spoke with but I have a bad feeling about it and would hate to go through all the effort of setting it up and possibly getting worse then having to bail halfway through or something.

It's so fucking unfair because even with this legal method I feel like you honestly have to have some level of strength and function in order to be able to complete it and it's not a viable option for extreme cases.

 

[edensend]

vsed is typically for dying people so I highly doubt any hospital would help you do that. You'd likely be put on a hold and given a feeding tube.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I don't think this will help you and I'm sorry I cannot help in any way but I have to say that it's disgusting if people have to consider (legal) VSED to be relieved from their suffering, and even that seems not to be easily accepted. I'm sorry you have to go trough this.

 

[trs]

I may have the ability to be eligible for VSED and hospice after beginning the first couple of days on my own.

However, I definitely have some concerns and this method was never my first choice.

It's looking like my possible only choice though at this point.


Does anyone on the forum happen to know of VSED cases like Christina Symanski, where the patient was fairly young and suffering from spinal issues/pain but was able to endure the process.

I'm worried because I have some odd reactions to morphine which is the painkiller they use. It causes me intense head pressure like my brain and ears are going to explode and pop, the sensation that my legs are 100 pounds and I can't physically lift them, hypnagogic jerks possibly, an extremely uncomfortable dampening sensation in my brain (this is probably partly due to my ventriculomegaly so when the morphine went into my spinal fluid it also went into my brain).

I'm also hypoglycemic and get weak and faint after even just a few hours of not eating and drinking enough. According to one volunteer, this can be a good thing because she thought I would pass out and not be fully conscious of everything but I'm honestly not so sure.

My incredibly severe nervous system sensitivity has never fucking been an advantage in life only a terrible curse in all other circumstances.

I've seen accounts here of people who attempted VSED but without oversight and who vomited or had seizures. Both those symptoms sound unbearable to me in my already weakened, bedbound state but with my luck I would likely develop them. Does anyone know if there's natural ways to prevent this from happening or if maybe the reason Christina Symanski ended up drinking part of the time during her process was because that was the only way she could make it bearable?

Yes, two months is an excruciating amount of time but if it was the difference between pushing through the discomfort and symptoms and going a bit longer vs feeling forced to stop early due to say agitation and deliriium from no water then I can understand her reasoning and there must have been a reason why she ended up doing it that way I would think.

Any insights or advice on situations similar to this are greatly encouraged and appreciated.

Based on my descriptions and the fact that I have connective tissue disorder, med sensitivities, naturally low blood pressure, genetically weak and defective nervous system, current Candida overgrowth, long term antibiotic neurotoxicity and brain damage, possible long COVID side effects masked by numbness, extreme proneness to UTI, do you think I could still be a VSED candidate?

Supposedly the answer is yes based on the person I spoke with but I have a bad feeling about it and would hate to go through all the effort of setting it up and possibly getting worse then having to bail halfway through or something.

It's so fucking unfair because even with this legal method I feel like you honestly have to have some level of strength and function in order to be able to complete it and it's not a viable option for extreme cases.

Assuming your situation is in the US (but if you're in a different country it may not apply), Hospice eligibility is standardly for patients with 6 months or less left to live (hospice will only last that long before the service is terminated) and is determined by a doctor. Because it requires approval via one's insurance it's fairly standard, strict criteria that cannot be deviated from. I know from personal experience. It doesn't sound like you have a rapidly terminal condition or diagnosis. Have they diagnosed you as less than 6 months to live? If not, I'm fairly certain you are not eligible, and I'm interested in knowing who said you "may be eligible"? Those in hospice may choose VSED (although people rarely do), and in that situation you could use morphine for the horrible symptoms VSED causes until one passes. Anyone can do VSED even if not in hospice, but you would likely not have access to morphine or any other drug which could mitigate what happens when your organs progressively fail. And they are horrible symptoms to experience without medication, on top of already suffering from what one is already physically suffering, so I'd never want to do it outside of a palliative setting.
(by the way, I have every symptom and illness you mention, on top of a lot more "official" diagnoses that cause even worse progressive disability, and I am not even close to being considered terminal; the criteria is very narrow and requires specific diagnoses and test results).

 

[WearyWanderer]

vsed is typically for dying people so I highly doubt any hospital would help you do that. You'd likely be put on a hold and given a feeding tube.

You don't have to be terminal in order to do VSED, that's a requirement for MAID. All of my information is from a VSED director and she has helped multiple clients who were not terminal in the past with completing this process.

I don't want to say too much because I don't want to draw attention for pro lifers to try and sabotage this option but I know the perameters and have been researching the option directly with someone who frequently volunteers as a death doula.

It's not a hospital that helps people, it's a volunteer organization.

 

[edensend]

You don't have to be terminal in order to do VSED, that's a requirement for MAID. All of my information is from a VSED director and she has helped multiple clients who were not terminal in the past with completing this process.

I don't want to say too much because I don't want to draw attention for pro lifers to try and sabotage this option but I know the perameters and have been researching the option directly with someone who frequently volunteers as a death doula.

It's not a hospital that helps people, it's a volunteer organization.

that doesn't seem possible or legal…are you planning to do it without medication?

 

[willitpass]

You don't have to be terminal in order to do VSED, that's a requirement for MAID. All of my information is from a VSED director and she has helped multiple clients who were not terminal in the past with completing this process.

I don't want to say too much because I don't want to draw attention for pro lifers to try and sabotage this option but I know the perameters and have been researching the option directly with someone who frequently volunteers as a death doula.

It's not a hospital that helps people, it's a volunteer organization.

This sounds highly illegal. Someone choosing to assist someone in suicide through some volunteer organization doesn't seem like a good idea. I'd be worried that you are getting scammed as anyone in their right mind would know that starting an organization like this will likely land them in jail for a very long time. If they are not a hospital where in the world are they getting morphine from? This seems like a very bad idea.