Date Posted:20:45:45 03/10/02 Sun Author: Karen Tate Subject: Response to question #4
Knowing that Janet would consider suicide if and when she sees her quality of life slipping, Janet's family, physician, and friends face a great challenge. Since everyone naturally has a different perception of high and low quality, they will need to become very much in touch with Janet's perception so they know what is an acceptable and an unacceptable quality. It will be a struggle for all those involved because they know that Janet wishes to live only a life with what she sees as quality, so they will probably be torn over what to do when she reaches that point beyond quality. Surely no one will want to see Janet suffer, but perhaps even more, no one will want to support her desire to take her own life. A great many people will suffer with either decision and nothing could possibly simplify the situation. Janet will simply need to be taken very good care of in order to maintain her high quality of life as long as possible.
