By Kenny Cooper
president, TBAH
When asked about my feelings regarding life-ending measures for those with terminal illnesses, my off-hand and truthful answer was that I struggle with both how I feel and what should be done. Over a career of 20 years as a pastor and now 20 years in residential and health services for senior adults, I have witnessed many terminally ill persons — and their families — struggle with pain, loss of control, and the cloud of death that was imminent but not immediate. In addition to these experiences, I watched my father die a painful death from lung cancer and my mother-in-law die after a four-year bout with Alzheimer’s disease, at the end of which she was in immense emotional pain as well as physical pain. One cannot observe and be present in these circumstances without being affected by them. [Read more…]