[Music]
[Applause]
little so was an empress of a kitty and
at nineteen years of age she was still a
sight to behold this past spring little
surfs quality of life began to decrease
she had chronic intestinal problems
wasn’t able to put on weight and was
sleeping all the time the day that her
owner called and said Julie it’s time to
let Soph go I don’t want her to continue
to suffer any longer
I knew she had made the right choice and
we made arrangements for her euthanasia
that morning little Soph was curled in
her owners lap as I gave her a sedation
drug once she was relaxed I gave the
final injection that stopped her heart I
looked up at her owner and she smiled at
me and said I have not seen her lay this
peacefully in months I did not realize
how uncomfortable she had been little
Soph is one of hundreds of euthanasias I
have performed to my 10 years of being a
veterinarian
I remember them all and becoming a
veterinarian euthanasia was not one of
the most present thoughts of my mind I
thought about difficult disease pathways
in their treatments and veterinary
school euthanasia is very rarely
discussed and may be addressed as part
of a treatment plan but we were given
very little if any training and the
actual process of euthanasia euthanasia
is actually an interesting word when we
look at its Greek roots you meaning good
the natus meaning death the word
literally means good death but how can
death be good the actual medical
procedure of euthanasia is quite simple
it is the arrival of the decision that
is difficult death is unpredictable it
can either be fast and acute and require
only a few minutes to come to a decision
or it could take years of consulting
with a client whose pet has a chronic
non reversible disease
we help owners rationalize that the
injury of the disease is beyond medical
or even financial capabilities the
American Veterinary Medical Association
does provide a 100 page manual giving
veterinarians specific humane
requirements and treatment guidelines in
order to provide a good death for our
patients
although terminating an animal’s life
could be broken down into guidelines and
lists it is within our conscious and
moral values that we must come to terms
with guilt weighs heavily on a
veterinarian’s mind it is not so easy to
make a choice for another living being
I’d like to tell you a story about a
good friend of mine his name was Reuben
and he was truly a one-of-a-kind dog I
was always delighted whenever I saw
Reuben was on my schedule I knew that no
matter what kind of day I was having I
would leave the clinic smiling I started
seeing Reuben over five years ago to
help him recover from neck surgery this
past year his physical condition and
quality of life began to fail he wasn’t
able to go in the walks he so loved he
was falling and could only stand for a
few seconds at a time I remember the
moment when his owners called and said
it was time to let Reuben go I could not
stop crying I could rationalize all the
reason medical reasons why it was time
to euthanize Reuben but I did not want
to do it he was my friend and I did not
want to lose him however I had a duty
and a responsibility to Reuben as a
veterinarian I had to help this
beautiful soul have a good death he
deserved it after I euthanized Reuben
his owners and iced down around him
telling stories of his life stories that
brought smiles to tear-stained faces
stories and I know cannot fix the holes
in our hearts but it sure can string
I’d like to tell you a story about
another good friend of mine her name was
Deb or some of you may have known her as
dr. Deborah call Cerf she was a small
animal emergency veterinarian here in
Dayton and you may have had the
experience of her exceptional veterinary
skills when your pet was in a medical
crisis I always say your animal is a
pure reflection of your soul Deb had
golden retrievers and there is no other
dog with a more caring and giving heart
than a golden amine owns too many of her
friends and colleagues Deb battled a
rare cancer for the last 13 years of her
life she hid her disease I felt it was
to prevent others from feeling her pain
another golden retriever tree and the
last year of her life Deb’s suffered the
cancer had spread to her spine and
pelvis and it eventually consumed the
bones of her sacrum every movement every
breath was pure agony for her I remember
one sitting next to Deb when she was in
the hospital and she looked at me and
said Julie if I were one of my patients
I would have been euthanized by now Deb
and I rarely discussed her cancer and we
never discussed her uncoming death
I wish we had Deb passed away January
11th 2017 and the caring hands of
Hospice surrounded by family and close
friends I did not want my friend to die
but I did not want her to continue to
suffer either Deb did not have a good
death and this was a hard concept for me
to understand how could this exceptional
human being who had helped so many of
her patients have a good death not have
the right to choose one for herself she
is the catalyst for why I stand here
today currently only six states and
Washington DC
comply with the Death with Dignity Act
Ohio is not one of these states but
legislation could change this soon in
1997 Oregon was the first state to pass
the Death with Dignity Act this law
allows patients to have medical access
to dying you may be familiar with some
of these terms medical aid and dying
physician assisted death or physician
assisted suicide I’d like to clarify
these terms medical aid and dying is not
suicide it is not assisted suicide and
it is not euthanasia it is a medical
treatment for someone who is dying we as
patients as dying patients would have
the right to ask a physician to
prescribe a medication that would give
us a quick death this law allows us the
choice of how and when our death will
occur there are rules and regulations to
this law just as there are in veterinary
medicine we as patients must be legal
aged adults with residency and a
participating state we must also be
diagnosed with a terminal disease that
has six months or less life expectancy
and we must also have submit one written
and to oral requests to a physician
asking for this treatment this does not
appear too complicated but just as we
know in making the choice for our
animals making the choice to face and
accept our own death is the most
difficult part of the process we fear
death we fear the unknowns of death what
will happen to my family will death be
painful will I suffer I question whether
our fears arise from the unknowns of
death or whether it is from the fear of
lack of control of our death in the
original Hippocratic oath physicians
once swore to the Greek god Apollo I
will never give a deadly drug to anybody
who asks for it nor will I make
suggestion to this effect a more modern
day us physicians may now swear most
especially must I tread with care in
matters of life and death it is given to
me to save a life but it may also be
within my power to take a life this
awesome responsibility must be faced
with great humbleness and awareness of
my own frailty and the human medical
field whose passionate is to protect an
extend human life it may seem
contradictory to provide and accept
death I understand the hesitation
providing a good death is a
veterinarian’s duty it is our ethical
obligation we must navigate a diversity
of cultures and beliefs in order to
provide their best interests we are the
animals voices so could the human
medical field learn from the veterinary
community that requesting a good death
in times of severe suffering is not a
failure of medicine it is actually
empowering us as human beings to gain
control over our own finality if we can
choose to give our animals a good death
as was given to Soph and Reuben should
we not also have the right to choose a
good death for ourselves as Deb and so
many others wanted and deserved is it
not time to stop fearing death grasp
control of it and show ourselves that
[Applause]
[Applause] [Music]
[Applause]
little so was an empress of a kitty and
at nineteen years of age she was still a
sight to behold this past spring little
surfs quality of life began to decrease
she had chronic intestinal problems
wasn’t able to put on weight and was
sleeping all the time the day that her
owner called and said Julie it’s time to
let Soph go I don’t want her to continue
to suffer any longer
I knew she had made the right choice and
we made arrangements for her euthanasia
that morning little Soph was curled in
her owners lap as I gave her a sedation
drug once she was relaxed I gave the
final injection that stopped her heart I
looked up at her owner and she smiled at
me and said I have not seen her lay this
peacefully in months I did not realize
how uncomfortable she had been little
Soph is one of hundreds of euthanasias I
have performed to my 10 years of being a
veterinarian
I remember them all and becoming a
veterinarian euthanasia was not one of
the most present thoughts of my mind I
thought about difficult disease pathways
in their treatments and veterinary
school euthanasia is very rarely
discussed and may be addressed as part
of a treatment plan but we were given
very little if any training and the
actual process of euthanasia euthanasia
is actually an interesting word when we
look at its Greek roots you meaning good
the natus meaning death the word
literally means good death but how can
death be good the actual medical
procedure of euthanasia is quite simple
it is the arrival of the decision that
is difficult death is unpredictable it
can either be fast and acute and require
only a few minutes to come to a decision
or it could take years of consulting
with a client whose pet has a chronic
non reversible disease
we help owners rationalize that the
injury of the disease is beyond medical
or even financial capabilities the
American Veterinary Medical Association
does provide a 100 page manual giving
veterinarians specific humane
requirements and treatment guidelines in
order to provide a good death for our
patients
although terminating an animal’s life
could be broken down into guidelines and
lists it is within our conscious and
moral values that we must come to terms
with guilt weighs heavily on a
veterinarian’s mind it is not so easy to
make a choice for another living being
I’d like to tell you a story about a
good friend of mine his name was Reuben
and he was truly a one-of-a-kind dog I
was always delighted whenever I saw
Reuben was on my schedule I knew that no
matter what kind of day I was having I
would leave the clinic smiling I started
seeing Reuben over five years ago to
help him recover from neck surgery this
past year his physical condition and
quality of life began to fail he wasn’t
able to go in the walks he so loved he
was falling and could only stand for a
few seconds at a time I remember the
moment when his owners called and said
it was time to let Reuben go I could not
stop crying I could rationalize all the
reason medical reasons why it was time
to euthanize Reuben but I did not want
to do it he was my friend and I did not
want to lose him however I had a duty
and a responsibility to Reuben as a
veterinarian I had to help this
beautiful soul have a good death he
deserved it after I euthanized Reuben
his owners and iced down around him
telling stories of his life stories that
brought smiles to tear-stained faces
stories and I know cannot fix the holes
in our hearts but it sure can string
I’d like to tell you a story about
another good friend of mine her name was
Deb or some of you may have known her as
dr. Deborah call Cerf she was a small
animal emergency veterinarian here in
Dayton and you may have had the
experience of her exceptional veterinary
skills when your pet was in a medical
crisis I always say your animal is a
pure reflection of your soul Deb had
golden retrievers and there is no other
dog with a more caring and giving heart
than a golden amine owns too many of her
friends and colleagues Deb battled a
rare cancer for the last 13 years of her
life she hid her disease I felt it was
to prevent others from feeling her pain
another golden retriever tree and the
last year of her life Deb’s suffered the
cancer had spread to her spine and
pelvis and it eventually consumed the
bones of her sacrum every movement every
breath was pure agony for her I remember
one sitting next to Deb when she was in
the hospital and she looked at me and
said Julie if I were one of my patients
I would have been euthanized by now Deb
and I rarely discussed her cancer and we
never discussed her uncoming death
I wish we had Deb passed away January
11th 2017 and the caring hands of
Hospice surrounded by family and close
friends I did not want my friend to die
but I did not want her to continue to
suffer either Deb did not have a good
death and this was a hard concept for me
to understand how could this exceptional
human being who had helped so many of
her patients have a good death not have
the right to choose one for herself she
is the catalyst for why I stand here
today currently only six states and
Washington DC
comply with the Death with Dignity Act
Ohio is not one of these states but
legislation could change this soon in
1997 Oregon was the first state to pass
the Death with Dignity Act this law
allows patients to have medical access
to dying you may be familiar with some
of these terms medical aid and dying
physician assisted death or physician
assisted suicide I’d like to clarify
these terms medical aid and dying is not
suicide it is not assisted suicide and
it is not euthanasia it is a medical
treatment for someone who is dying we as
patients as dying patients would have
the right to ask a physician to
prescribe a medication that would give
us a quick death this law allows us the
choice of how and when our death will
occur there are rules and regulations to
this law just as there are in veterinary
medicine we as patients must be legal
aged adults with residency and a
participating state we must also be
diagnosed with a terminal disease that
has six months or less life expectancy
and we must also have submit one written
and to oral requests to a physician
asking for this treatment this does not
appear too complicated but just as we
know in making the choice for our
animals making the choice to face and
accept our own death is the most
difficult part of the process we fear
death we fear the unknowns of death what
will happen to my family will death be
painful will I suffer I question whether
our fears arise from the unknowns of
death or whether it is from the fear of
lack of control of our death in the
original Hippocratic oath physicians
once swore to the Greek god Apollo I
will never give a deadly drug to anybody
who asks for it nor will I make
suggestion to this effect a more modern
day us physicians may now swear most
especially must I tread with care in
matters of life and death it is given to
me to save a life but it may also be
within my power to take a life this
awesome responsibility must be faced
with great humbleness and awareness of
my own frailty and the human medical
field whose passionate is to protect an
extend human life it may seem
contradictory to provide and accept
death I understand the hesitation
providing a good death is a
veterinarian’s duty it is our ethical
obligation we must navigate a diversity
of cultures and beliefs in order to
provide their best interests we are the
animals voices so could the human
medical field learn from the veterinary
community that requesting a good death
in times of severe suffering is not a
failure of medicine it is actually
empowering us as human beings to gain
control over our own finality if we can
choose to give our animals a good death
as was given to Soph and Reuben should
we not also have the right to choose a
good death for ourselves as Deb and so
many others wanted and deserved is it
not time to stop fearing death grasp
control of it and show ourselves that
[Applause]
[Applause] [Music]
Please follow and like us: