Quote Originally Posted by swaledale View Post
In many ways though RA it is entirely relevant to this crisis, we have medicalised (not sure thats a word but you know what I mean) old age to the extent that sections of society demand that £1,000s be spent on drugs to extend life by 3, 6 or up to 12 months even though the end result is a foregone conclusion.

In this crisis we are seeing normal deaths (if your old the odds are you will die from a respiratory disease) but accelerated, much the same as when we have a flu epidemic. But because we have this fetish about the right to life whatever the circumstances, there is a mixed message emanating from government about saving lives when in reality its about reducing the health service being overwhelmed by dying people.

As for the baby boom, you could be right, there could also be a surge in the divorce rate!!
Longer than that in some cases, Swale and I wholly agree with your sentiments.

I consider us extremely fortunate in that all four of our parents suffered relatively sudden deaths which didn’t involve an enormous loss of dignity. My mother lasted a week after a stroke at the age of 84 but the prognosis in terms of quality of life was hopeless and I genuinely believe in those circumstances she lost the will to live.

It’s truly tough to lose a parent in such circumstances...both my father and father in law, there one minute gone the next. Total shock...there’s no chance to say any sort of mutual goodbye, but I’d honestly prefer that to my mate’s experience of having to watch his father take five years to die having no idea of who was visiting him and being doubly incontinent most of that time.

It’s a grown up debate the country needs to have. To some extent one can’t judge till one is in that position but I honestly feel that, from my own point of view, I wouldn’t want to live without a certain quality of life and my heart goes out to those suffering terminal and horribly debilitating illness who are not allowed to die with dignity.

Cheerful eh? Needs to be a huge adult debate but probably not in the midst of a pandemic.

You’re right about the divorce rate...I’m off into the garden!