In the last month, Brittany Maynard's story has garnered international attention as it naturally has caused people to weigh in. On Jan. 1 of this year, Maynard was diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer which causes a debilitating and often slow death. While Maynard was originally given only 6 months to live, she has made it longer and still is able to find joy and laughter in each day in spite of suffering through extreme pain and daily seizures that cause her to not even remember her husband's name. Earlier this month, Maynard went public with her story in an attempt to raise awareness for "death with dignity" and at that point, she had marked Nov. 1 as the date when she would willingly take prescribed medication to peacefully end her life surrounded by loved ones. Now, according to a new video posted to her site, it seems that Maynard has changed her mind - at least for now.
In the video posted on Wednesday night Maynard explains,
"So if November 2nd comes along and I've passed, I hope my family is still proud of me and the choices I made. And if November 2nd comes along and I'm still alive, I know that we'll just still be moving forward as a family, like, out of love for each other and that that decision will come later. When people criticize me for not, like, waiting longer or ... whatever they've decided is best for me, it hurts because really I risk it. I risk it everyday, everyday that I wake up. And I do it because I still feel good enough, and I still have enough joy, and I still laugh and smile with my family and friends enough that it doesn't seem the right time right now, but it will come because I feel myself getting sicker. It's happening each week."
Maynard and her husband, Dan Diaz moved from their home in San Francisco to Oregon last June because Oregon is one of only five states that allow death with dignity. Since moving, she has split her time between focusing on family and advocating for the right to choose. Maynard has said that choosing a particular date to die brought a sense of peace because it gave her control. Otherwise her disease will bring an extremely painful death, one that her family will have to suffer through just watching while knowing there's nothing that they can do to prevent it.
Maynard also says that her seizures are getting worse and that when she wakes from them she can think but not speak. If she has a large enough seizure or stroke then it's possible for her to lose all ability to communicate and that would take away her chance of choosing to die with dignity. Maynard's story has opened a dialogue on social networking platforms that hasn't been seen before. Nearly everyone has an initial opinion on death with dignity, but then when you stop to really think about the kinds of choices that terminally ill people face, you may end up think things you never would have imagined.
Healthy people generally have a hard time imagining choosing to end their own lives, but what if you weren't healthy? What would you really do if you were handed a terminal diagnosis for what you thought was a stress migraine? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
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