RIP Art Buchwald

I have always enjoyed and respected Art Buchwald who died yesterday but my respect only increased when I learned that he had made the decision to not undergo the hell of 27 hours of dialysis a week for the rest of his life at the age of 80. Knowing how to live life includes knowing when not to put yourself through hell on earth to prolong it. My father died a few years ago at the age of 86. His last 10 years consisted of one surgical or other medical intervention after another to keep him alive. Constant pain and suffering, weeks at a time in hospitals and nursing homes. The medical profession concentrates too much on quantity and not enough on quality. The result is that the life of many is a hell on earth in their final years.

Having been an eye witness to my father's final years I made the decision that at some point I will tell the doctors "enough is enough", without the quality the quantity is meaningless if not cruel.