Originally Posted by MRM (Post 3915430)

Glad to hear you have a good understanding of the situation. I had a similar experience. My father in law died not long ago from Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) resulting from multiple myloma. His lungs filled with fluid and just couldn't work any more. When the doctors explained to me what was going on and that he was going to die, no matter what they did, my only questions were does he feel pain and what can we do to prevent it. The answer was that yes, the sensation he would have would be like drowning; his lungs just weren't processing enough air to keep him alive, just like drowning, but that morphine both reduced the sensation of oxygen starvation and masked the pain. My response was "drug him up". I've never made a better decision. We all have to die, when our time comes, it comes. But there is no reason to be in pain when it happens. Morphine is the best thing that can happen in that situation. That and having your hand held and being read to or talked to as the light goes out. That's how I hope to go when my time comes, hopefully many years from now.