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Motor Neurone DiseaseArrow
Rarer forms - PMA (progressive muscular atrophy)
Judith - Interview 12  

Judith - Interview 12

Age at Interview: 58
Sex: Female
Age at Diagnosis: 55
Background: Judith is a retired English teacher, married with 2 adult children. Ethnic background/nationality: White British.
Brief outline:Judith was diagnosed with Progressive Muscular Atrophy form of MND two years ago, after consulting two neurologists. Now she uses a wheelchair and mobility scooter.

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She feels very positive about life and is upset by media images of MND. In future she may make a Living Will. She would not want resuscitation and would like a peaceful end.

 



There was a programme on television the other day. I watched a little bit of it, I think it was Holby City, where they were saying there was a woman who wanted to go to Switzerland and commit suicide. And I looked at it and I thought, “Well, I don't feel like that at the moment. I don't recognise that feeling of desperation at all.” And I was wondering if perhaps I ought to be making plans for something like that. But whatever it is, at my stage of the disease or whatever, my brain is not in that sort of negative time frame, and at the moment I'm enjoying life. And it would seem an awful betrayal of all the people who are trying to work for me and do things for me to go and decide I want to commit suicide. 

So I'm not in that way at the moment. In the future I wouldn't mind having a Living Will, and I think I will write one, just simply to say that if I need to be resuscitated I don't want to be, and that if I'm in a position where nothing can help me then they might as well give me a big dose of morphine rather than a small one and let things go easily. Because I don't see any point in sitting round for months in pain and agony. And I would hope that when I come to be in a terminal state, that they will make it as easy as possible for me. But I think it's very sad that people like Diane Pretty had to go to the Court of Human Rights and ask for help in that way. I thought that was disgraceful, really, that she couldn't be reassured that she would die a painless death. I thought that was very upsetting. But I don't really look ahead to that. I try to enjoy the way I'm feeling at the moment and stick to the positive kind of thing.
Jonathan Miller - Motor Neurone
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