Why are you taking a poll here? There are very few ventilator-dependent patients here unless they're hiding in the woodwork. You'll have a larger response rate at a site like Patients Like Me. where there are Internet-active ventilator-dependent PALS. I'll save you the trouble of going over there and asking them, however. From what they have said in the past, they are all happy they did it and they would do it again under the same circumstances.
Which brings up a second point that is germane to your "poll" -- selection bias.
Ventilator use can be discontinued at any time at the patient's request, provided that the local legal niceties are observed. That means that it is very unlikely that you will receive a negative answer from a currently ventilated person -- if they are able to communicate enough to answer your question, they can communicate well enough to request that their ventilator be turned off. And that's what they do. People who are still alive to answer your question obviously haven't made that request and are less likely to give you a negative answer. The ones that didn't like the experience most likely have discontinued the ventilator and aren't here to answer the question.
As to the question you are asking of PALS that haven't yet reached that point, why do you care what they think? They have no more experience with the procedure than you do. If you look at previous discussions held on this board and others, you'll see a wide variety of opinions given and an equally wide variety of reasons, rational and not-so-rational, for those opinions. I can tell you, having lived with this disease for about 5 years, that people make and remake this decision many times during the course of this disease. What they say today may (and often does) change radically as circumstances change.
So, ask your questions this month and you'll get one set of results. Ask six months from now and you'll likely get a different set of results. Are you sure that you want to base your decision on something that variable and that volatile?
Furthermore, the results that you'll get from non-vented PALS are likely to be wavering, except for those who have strong religious, moral, or even political convictions (that you don't know and they may not tell or acknowledge). If you don't share the convictions of those opinionated individuals, why would you care what they think if that's why they think it?
Finally, this is, in my experience, one of the touchiest subjects to discuss in the ALS community, mostly because it costs little to posture and jump on various soapboxes while beating a particular tune on a drum. Personally, I find the vent/no-vent decision difficult enough in quiet discussions with people that genuinely care about me to want to turn it into a circus for people I don't know and that don't know me. If you're that undecided, evaluate the probabilities and generate random numbers to make the decision. It's a lot quieter and much easier on the ego. Plus, you can change the probabilities and generate a new random number whenever you need or want to -- no muss and no fuss.
Just a few things you might want to consider when analyzing the results of your poll, providing that you get any to speak of.
