Comment by somenameforme
3 days ago
Not that long ago I went to see an acquaintance during his last time on this Earth - bladder cancer. His final time would come the next afternoon, so he was already well into the 'he can hear you but can't speak' phase. At first I felt absolutely awful for him and in general. But then thinking about it more I realized that there's nothing to really feel particularly bad about.
In not that long I'll be the one laying there in that bed, and so will everybody else that was in that room, and even on this Earth. It's just a natural part of life. He, at least, had the privilege of being able to prepare for his final moments, and getting to spend it surrounded by friends and loved ones. It's the final scene that we all will go through, one way or the other. And you know, that's about as ideal a closing act as one could hope for.
I agree. And people who have been through it frequently (e.g. doctors) have a completely different reaction to those who are going through it for the first time. But still, it's understandably a sensitive subject, and even the person most inured to death reacts differently when it's their own family (or themselves) who is dealing with it.
That said, the folks who are recruiting for clinical trials are often playing on this emotional reaction, and over-promising what can be accomplished, or simply not correcting the misperceptions of the people they are recruiting.
It's hard to recruit people into trials when you tell them with absolute clarity that there's very little chance it will benefit them personally.