Advance Directive...
Being of sound body and mind I will have to choose now and write down my wishes in the case that I am incapacitated and can not speak for myself. Confused? My parents rounded all of us kids (3) up this weekend and told us that we would be filling out our living wills. This comes as no surprise to me as I have been waiting to fill out mine, but as for my brothers, they were a little "squeamish" around the idea.
I am now an adult. No one can speak for me according to the law unless I say so. And through my experience at Medical Records and a very tumultuous death of my Grandfather (Dad's dad) I have seen the horrors that accompany death and the turmoil it causes families. This is why I would recommend to every single one of you who are over the age of 18 to file an Advance Directive, or at least put some decent thought into what your wishes would be if you were not able to speak for yourself. Then I would encourage you to talk about those wishes with someone close to you that WOULD speak for you in such an instance.
So what are my wishes? At this point in time I know one thing for sure: I WANT TO LIVE. So yes, bring me back to life. Resuscitate me. Good. Problem solved right? I'm not so sure.
What if my life was only to be lived out for the rest of my life on ventilator, in a vegetable state of mind, with feeding tubes, and loads of medications just to keep me comfortable? Could I put that financial and emotional burden on my parents? Or the rest of my family? Yes, I want to live, but I think in that case, dying would let me live longer in a place far more wonderful that I could imagine...at least that's what I think.
How often do you update an Advance Directive? As often as you like. Whenever you like. Free of charge. It's your life. You decide, that's the purpose.
One thing struck me funny as I was ready through the papers this morning...there was a section on Pregnancy. Now, being as how I am NOT pregnant and really don't plan on getting pregnant any time soon, I immediately disregarded that page. However, I went back to it because someday down the road I think (at least I hope) I will be pregnant and then what? What would I do in that case? Thankfully, I don't have to decide that right now, but it sure was something to think about.
So yes, Advance Directives. Get one and fill one out today. If you have questions just give me a call, I'd be happy to help answer any questions you may have and help you find answers to the questions I can not answer.
Wanting to live,
M~
I am now an adult. No one can speak for me according to the law unless I say so. And through my experience at Medical Records and a very tumultuous death of my Grandfather (Dad's dad) I have seen the horrors that accompany death and the turmoil it causes families. This is why I would recommend to every single one of you who are over the age of 18 to file an Advance Directive, or at least put some decent thought into what your wishes would be if you were not able to speak for yourself. Then I would encourage you to talk about those wishes with someone close to you that WOULD speak for you in such an instance.
So what are my wishes? At this point in time I know one thing for sure: I WANT TO LIVE. So yes, bring me back to life. Resuscitate me. Good. Problem solved right? I'm not so sure.
What if my life was only to be lived out for the rest of my life on ventilator, in a vegetable state of mind, with feeding tubes, and loads of medications just to keep me comfortable? Could I put that financial and emotional burden on my parents? Or the rest of my family? Yes, I want to live, but I think in that case, dying would let me live longer in a place far more wonderful that I could imagine...at least that's what I think.
How often do you update an Advance Directive? As often as you like. Whenever you like. Free of charge. It's your life. You decide, that's the purpose.
One thing struck me funny as I was ready through the papers this morning...there was a section on Pregnancy. Now, being as how I am NOT pregnant and really don't plan on getting pregnant any time soon, I immediately disregarded that page. However, I went back to it because someday down the road I think (at least I hope) I will be pregnant and then what? What would I do in that case? Thankfully, I don't have to decide that right now, but it sure was something to think about.
So yes, Advance Directives. Get one and fill one out today. If you have questions just give me a call, I'd be happy to help answer any questions you may have and help you find answers to the questions I can not answer.
Wanting to live,
M~