Posted on 09/24/2010 2:20:17 PM PDT by Headline Bistro
Too many people don't want to face their own mortality and just leave those decisions they cannot make to someone else...I was only 50 when I made out my will, trust, P of A. My husband died young, at 51 of his one and only heart attack with no previous sign of heart trouble...
I wasn't going to leave my family to make decisions that were my responsibility...many may disagree, but being a nurse I have seen what some family's have to go through making decisions that they were not prepared to make.. just my opinion and others probably disagree....
My children were told to answer “you will have to ask my mother or father abut that”.
I had a similar experience last Nov at a major university hospital.
My mother would have been sent home and medicated to death, but I demanded they treat the pneumonia and get her off some of the meds they had her on.
She was brought her in on a stretcher, barely responsive, rattling with pneumonia. A few hours later she was sitting up in the bed talking. The OR dr said this is amazing. My reply “no she missed her 8PM meds”.
Before she was admitted I had a very ugly scene with a dr not her dr but another one in the practice who told me I needed to accept facts and just let her go. I demanded they admit her and treat the pneumonia. In the end they did as I wanted and my mother was sitting up in bed talking and laughing the next afternoon when my brother flew in from deployment. Yes she had a terminal illness, but her last wish was to see my brother who was due to arrive the next day. Nothing nor no-one except God would have stood between me and my fulfilling that last wish. She has since passed away but she was with us through Christmas and the New Year eating her favorite pumpkin pie surrounded by family and friends. Maybe not what that dr thinks of as good quality of life but what gives any dr the right to decide that for any patient? The patient and family should decide.
All I can say is be prepared to fight because the death panels already exist. Be careful when choosing a doctor, a hospital and a hospice. Have the end of life discussions early in treatment so everyone knows what you want and believe.
My children were told to answer “you will have to ask my mother or father abut that”.
My father was terrified of hospitals, never went to the doctor.
He was old, he was dying, and he was in the hospital. My dad was alert and all that, but in that bed he was a scared, confused child. All I wanted to do was wrap him in a warm blanket, take him home, and calm his fears.
He was too overwhelmed to make decisions.
The last seven months of my mother’s life, our roles reversed and she was my child. It was heartbreaking, but I am comfortable with the decisions I made and the battles I waged on her behalf. She had the best care I could provide and died at home with those she loved.
That was the response my children were told to give if any doctor or teacher asked about guns in our home.
I agree. Have you see Mrs. Don-o’s post at #23?
I have read many of Mrs, Don O replies on many articles and she always gives excellent advice...an admirable lady...
I could not agree more.
The problem is, not everyone agrees what those "rights" are. Doctors cannot just assume that someone who is unable to communicate with them wants to live. That's one reason for the form.
I also don't want my family put in the position of trying to guess what I want.
Last but not least, Obamacare. I want it made clear, in writing, what treatment I want and don't want. That may not stop the government directed doctors from withholding treatment, but at least it won't be because I didn't put my wishes in writing.
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