X-Message-Number: 26783
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2005 09:18:38 -0400
From: Thomas Donaldson <>
Subject: death, suicide, & reasons for suicide

Hi Everyone, cryonauts and cryoneers:

Yes, I am Thomas Donaldson. I will start by adding a little to what
Ettinger said: we began the suit to allow suspension before legal
death while I wasn't near dying because lawsuits take a long time.
If it had been started AFTER I was terminal, the legal suit will
have continued with no answer until I had died and it had become
meaningless. That's why we started it before I was dying. There isn't
any other alternative.

As to suicide so that you can be suspended, that remains an important
question for anyone with a disease affecting their brain. Not just
brain tumors, but Alzheimer's and other such conditions can kill
you months or even years before most doctors will declare you 
legally dead. I use the word "kill" here quite literally: if your
brain is destroyed by any disease you have died, whether or not 
the law and medicine of today consider that you have died. The
problem gets even worse if you're surrounded by people with 
primitive notions of life, like the woman who was supported by 
her hospital until her husband finally got them to withdraw 
support. Her brain, when examined afterwards, had largely disappeared
for her cortex, and her breathing and heartbeat continued because
they're produced by very low brain centers. By the way, if I understand
rightly, this woman had suffered serious brain injury due to an accident:
one more event which can kill you even if current medicine and law
still claim you're still alive.

When Alcor launched the lawsuit there was also lots of discussion
about just what kinds of suicide would avoid legal delays and 
autopsy. The best form of suicide for cryonics purposes turned
out to be starvation: stop eating anything, and if you feel like
drinking something drink only water. Apparently after a few days
the feeling of hunger disappears.

The major advantage of starvation for suspension is simply that no 
one can claim that you were murdered or produce any reason for
an autopsy. This was the main reason it was proposed.

Precisely because I was not (yet?) dying, I haven't tried starvation
as a form of suicide. My tumor recurred several years ago and I'm
taking a drug against it. So far I haven't had any bad reactions to
the drug, and the tumor has shrunk but still not gone away. So I 
may yet need to try suicide by starvation. Naturally I'd hope to
get back to Scottsdale before I do this, but I don't really know
what will happen. After all, if you haven't noticed you should:
staying alive can be tough, and the Universe acts as if it wants
to kill you.

            Best wishes and long long life for all,

                  Thomas Donaldson

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