Living Will

I wrote a letter home today. letter-home

Not the usual: ?Hello, I?m fine. This is what I did today, this is what I?m going to do tomorrow, this is how little sleep I?m getting, it?s great wearing scrubs every day, etc.? This was a letter that everyone needs to write - a letter whose importance has been grossly underemphasized. This was my living will.

I gave my parents and my sister specific instructions of what to do in case I was ever to be incapacitated and unable to make my own decisions regarding my health care. I provided the example of a situation where I was unconscious, intubated, and on a feeding tube. I told them if there was no hope of me being able to live a normal life again, then they should tell the doctor to withdraw care. I then asked them to respond with their own wishes.

Those few sentences will avoid a potential disaster for many people. My family will not have to be torn between the guilt of withdrawing care and the anguish of witnessing what my life has become. My doctor will know that the patient?s wishes are being respected. My nurses will not have to check on my machines every day, readjust me, and bathe me. The hospital will not have to pump thousands of dollars of resources into my inanimate body. The court will not become involved in a morally charged case where the philosophical discussion of what it means to be alive will be forced to fit the framework of the legal system.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This can?t be more applicable than to the field of medicine. Not only can we prevent many chronic illnesses with lifestyle changes, but we can prevent devastating social crises with a living will. Although using an ?official? document is ideal, the most important thing is letting someone know. Write it on a piece of lined paper, a post-it, or whatever and give it to your loved ones. Written or verbal, make your wishes be known.

Hopefully one day, having a living will will be just as common and desired as having a driver?s license. Maybe there will be even a law requiring citizens to document this information. Until then, we can put our apprehensions aside and make the unselfish decision now to help our families and doctors in the future.

Now that?s something to write home about.

Source: http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/becoming-a-doctor/2010/07/11/living-will/

Jill Duggan Jill Duggan Palm Beach Jill Duggan Palm Beach Florida Jill Duggan Florida Jill Duggan Palm Beach Woman