Ed Ness of Deep Bay will die today.

HeB次元官网网址檚 OK with it; and itB次元官网网址檚 not like itB次元官网网址檚 the first time itB次元官网网址檚 happened.

Ness is in the late stages of lung cancer, which has spread to other parts of his body. He has chosen his own date and time of death under CanadaB次元官网网址檚 medical assistance in dying law, Bill C-14, passed in June of 2016.

B次元官网网址淭he thought of death doesnB次元官网网址檛 scare me,B次元官网网址� said Ness. B次元官网网址淭he idea of a slow, agonizing death scares me. I donB次元官网网址檛 want that at all.B次元官网网址�

If all goes according to his plan, Ness, 72, and his wife Gloria, 70, will host a group of 17 friends and family members in a sort of living wake in their Deep Bay home this afternoon (May 30). Following approximately two hours of refreshments, soft music and reminiscing, he will settle into his living room easy chair and a physician will place a needle in his arm to begin the procedure that will end with his final trip from his home in a hearse about an hour later.

Ness wanted to share his story as a way to shed light on Death with Dignity. He said he has been a proponent of the procedure for many years, long before his March 2016 diagnosis of lung cancer, and recoils from the term B次元官网网址渟uicideB次元官网网址� being used to describe it.

B次元官网网址淵ou canB次元官网网址檛 tell me IB次元官网网址檓 committing suicide,B次元官网网址� said Ness, who was born in Victoria and who worked as a logger before starting his own successful real estate business in Campbell River in 1976. B次元官网网址淪uicide is for people who are really depressed and just canB次元官网网址檛 take it any more and want to end it all.

B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 not what this is. IB次元官网网址檓 damn dying now, and itB次元官网网址檚 moving very quickly.B次元官网网址�

The progression of his cancer has given his quest a particular urgency. Under Bill C-14, a patient must apply for the procedure, then be approved under its guidelines by two qualified physicians during a 10-day B次元官网网址減eriod of reflection.B次元官网网址� At the end of those 10 days, the patient must again sign a consent before the doctor can perform the procedure.

Ness, citing the example of his brotherB次元官网网址檚 deterioration, was concerned the cancer might spread to his brain and leave him unable to comprehend the consent form.

B次元官网网址淵ou have to have the capacity to consent and you have to sign a document on the date of the procedure,B次元官网网址� said Dr. Tanja Daws of Courtenay Medical Clinic. B次元官网网址淭he patient can only receive the procedure if they know what it means. They canB次元官网网址檛 get it if they are in a coma or if theyB次元官网网址檙e confused.B次元官网网址�

The process itself involves the injection of a sedative that puts the patient into a deep sleep. Then another drug is injected that will stop respiration and the heartbeat.

Just two days before his scheduled procedure, Ness appeared outwardly healthy. He is not bed-ridden and is not connected to oxygen or an intravenous drip. The only outward sign of his illness is a persistent cough in the one lung he he was left with after undergoing a pneumonectomy last November.

The removal of his left lung initially left him feeling much better, Ness said, and he and Gloria were even planning a B次元官网网址渂ucket listB次元官网网址� trip to Machu Picchu this coming winter.

But his cough returned earlier this year, and a CT scan showed the cancer had returned.

B次元官网网址淭he doctors said if the cancer does come back (following surgery), it will come back as stage 4 cancer and it will be extremely aggressive,B次元官网网址� Ness said. B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 where I am now.

B次元官网网址淵ou look at me, and people say, B次元官网网址楨d, you look so healthyB次元官网网址�, but this cancer is raging through my body right now. I can feel it. It feels like thereB次元官网网址檚 something alive inside me and itB次元官网网址檚 moving really quickly.B次元官网网址�

In addition to taking charge of the time and nature of his death, Ness has also been hands-on with the administrative details. He has written his own epitaph, which he will read to the family and friends gathered around on Tuesday afternoon. The couple has already completed funeral arrangements. He is also writing his own obituary, and has filled out an adjustment of will and transferred assets to GloriaB次元官网网址檚 name.

B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 doing it all himself. HeB次元官网网址檚 always been a take-charge person; nobody else can do anything quite as well as Ed can,B次元官网网址� Gloria said with a laugh.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 nice to have the time in advance to choose your death,B次元官网网址� Ness said. B次元官网网址淓veryone has loose ends they would like to take care of. IB次元官网网址檝e had time to do all those things.B次元官网网址�

Dr. Daws said she could not speak to specific patient cases, but said TuesdayB次元官网网址檚 planned gathering at the Ness home is a sort of pre-memorial common in Death with Dignity cases.

B次元官网网址淭here is always a certain amount of sadness, of course, but itB次元官网网址檚 good to have a positive memory attached to the patient,B次元官网网址� said Daws. B次元官网网址淥ften, the patient will make a small speech thanking family and friends and saying theyB次元官网网址檙e ready to die. And the family and friends can tell the patient how loved they are.

B次元官网网址淚t makes it, in a bizarre way, beautiful. And it can leave people with a far better memory than a prolonged battle in ICU or a battle with cancer in hospice or at home.B次元官网网址�

Ness took a slightly less philosophical tone to describe the planned gathering.

B次元官网网址淲hen you go to funerals, you talk to this box here,B次元官网网址� he said, gesturing toward an imaginary coffin. B次元官网网址淚n this case, they can say it to my face. And I can respond to it in the same way.B次元官网网址�

In advance of his procedure, Ness said, he was offered anti-anxiety medication. He said he asked his doctor why he would need it.

B次元官网网址淥nce I made the decision, people asked me, B次元官网网址榃ell, arenB次元官网网址檛 you scared?B次元官网网址� Not at all; I feel a real peace right now. I feel very comfortable and at ease.

B次元官网网址淚 am worried about my wife. ItB次元官网网址檚 very difficult for her, because sheB次元官网网址檚 going to miss me for a long time after IB次元官网网址檓 gone.B次元官网网址�

Gloria said she has supported EdB次元官网网址檚 decision from the start, and said the worst thing she can think of is to watch a loved one gasping for one more breath in a long, slow death. But she admitted she will miss him greatly.

B次元官网网址淓d and I are very close,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲e worked together in real estate, and living together on a boat in close quarters, we had to enjoy each otherB次元官网网址檚 company. So this is going to be quite a loss for me.B次元官网网址�

Ness rejects the opposition to Death with Dignity, or medically assisted suicide, on the grounds that it will lead to people being killed by children seeking an early inheritance. But he admits some of the objection is on moral and spiritual grounds. He and Gloria secured the services of Daws, who is accredited by the College of Physicians and Surgeons and who has performed the procedure multiple times, after another physician declined, citing his own Catholic roots.

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 have any religious beliefs,B次元官网网址� Ed said. B次元官网网址淢aybe I get to the other horizon and thereB次元官网网址檚 nothing there. ThatB次元官网网址檚 OK, then IB次元官网网址檝e got an eternity of absolute serenity. If there is something on the other side, I say let the adventure begin.B次元官网网址�