My dear fellow DUers, do you have a living will?

I just got done wading through a thread on the Schiavo case.
Just heartbreaking.

My family went through something like it with my mother. She did not have a living will, but we all knew that she would not want to be kept on life support. My father a VERY CONSERVATIVE Christian pro-lifer, chose to with-hold food and water after she was unable to swallow. She died within 3 days. It was not an easy death either. She went into convulsions several times due to the dehydration.

I had nightmares for months and my stomach has never been the same.

I have made the personal decision that I will not go that way. I want to be kept on water, but food would be with-held.

You need to have these sorts of things in writing. And you also need to designate someone you trust to make decisions in case the documents are unable to be located or whatever.

Please do yourself and your families a favor by thinking these issues through and making your decisions clear and legally binding.
Don't let your family get torn apart like the Schiavos.

I have had one for years-since I was 18.

http://www.uslivingwillregistry.com/
Thanks for the reminder, Coventina!

case became publicized. We were going to do it anyway because, a year earlier, we had to decide to have the life support for my Dad shut off. We all sat down one evening and filled out the forms, and had each other sign and witness them.


Although Dad had always been quite vocal about his desire to not be kept alive by artificial means, it was still gut-wrenching to have to do it. (He frequently said: "the day someone has to wipe my ass is the day you call Dr. Kevorkian" - and he MEANT it!). I can't imagine having to make this kind of decision and have there be dissension among my loved ones over it. At least they all know my wishes, in advance.

Especially after my accident, I should have done this a while ago.

Especially with a child in the equation now, I would not have it any other way for her sake...

:kick:

could have been for your mom. but you know you did the right hting, so that's great. some hospitals have good training in pallative care and some don't and it always pays to do some research beforehand if you can.
yeah, i'm going to get on the living will thing asap. thanks for the reminder.

They should have administered some type of drugs to make her passing as pain-free and painless as possible. Neither she nor the family should have been subject to that.

just that they were so underfunded. probably never had any kind of pallitive care training there. they were way understaffed as well, so it made things scarier/ sadder than they needed to be.
i would never let my mom near an institution like that again. last time we did, a day after a heart attack, she got up and was found wandering three floors away- and she has trouble walking and dementia. and that was during the day when they were fully staffed.

:grouphug:

:kick:

Do it for your loved ones.

I want every heroic and extreme measure possible to be used to save my life. I want all the respirators and feeding tubes until I look like Darth Vader. I plan to live forever and wantto be kept alive, at any expense to the state, until such a time as they find a cure for whatever put me there.

capisce?

My point in starting this thread is that whatever your choice IS, make sure it is known ahead of time, and in writing.

Also, that someone you trust has power of attorney, and will carry out your wishes if for some reason the paper is not available or deemed not legally binding.

My aunt had one too. She died in her bathroom not long afterward and the living will wasn't posted. The EMS folks kept her artificially alive for a couple of days afterward because they didn't know about it.
If you get one, make sure everyone knows about it and it's posted in plain view (if you need to).

:hi:

At one hospital I was having a medical test don at, requested that I sign papers asking about under what circumstances I wanted to be or not to be recesitated. Do they really mean anything?

but I'm not a lawyer.

:shrug: