How detailed is your Living Will (Advance Directive)? (2015, state, blogs)

[RiverBird]

This article today gave me pause for thought. What kind of wording do you have in your Living Will (also called Advance Directive) to cover exactly what you want to have happen in any number of different medical scenarios (including under what circumstances do you want a DNR order)?

If You Have Dementia, Can You Hasten Death As You Wished? : Shots - Health News : NPR

[jghorton]

IMO, much of the standard Living Will language focuses more on being 'unplugged', rather than sustained with medications and feeding tubes that do the same thing. For example, we learned in the case of my MIL that patients don't really starve to death without a feeding tube, BUT, once a feeding tube is inserted, it is almost impossible to have it medically removed.

I've also been involved in situations where families were trying to make 'end of life decisions', with little or not real knowledge of what the person would have wanted. These can become extremely painful, gut wrenching decisions for families; and even require legal intervention to accomplish what they believe their vegetative loved one would have wanted.

Therefore, we got pretty specific in our Living Wills/DNR Directives; and I even drafted a letter for inclusion dealing with the likelihood/improbability of recovering my mental or physical capacity to a certain degree. (Ironically, and thanks for the reminder), I can't find that letter with our current trusts/wills/directives, etc!). --

It probably bears saying that our family are all strong committed Christians who see death as simply the next step in the journey, rather than something to fear or be anxious about. That makes an enormous difference in families when it comes to EOL decisions and actions.

[RiverBird]

Originally Posted by jghorton

Therefore, we got pretty specific in our Living Wills/DNR Directives; and I even drafted a letter for inclusion dealing with the likelihood/improbability of recovering my mental or physical capacity to a certain degree. (Ironically, and thanks for the reminder), I can't find that letter with our current trusts/wills/directives, etc!).

Would you mind sharing how you worded this? (I need to be more specific in my own, though I did say that in a vegetative state I would want only water, not other nourishment).

I learned that in my state, the MOST RECENT instruction to the health-care proxy (chosen agent) is the one that the state recognizes. Even a last-minute verbal instruction from the patient to the proxy that is different from what is written is what rules.

[BellaDL]

We signed our Living Wills years ago so I don't remember all the details but I think they were based on some standard forms of our state. This thread prompted me to google for a more details, more specific Advance Directive & I found this great example

ADVANCE DIRECTIVES (Medical Care)---James Park's Living Will.

Here is the link to the main page

ADVANCE DIRECTIVES (Medical Care)---Your Last Year: Creating Your Own Advance Directive for Medical Care
"YOUR LAST YEAR - Creating Your Own Advance Directive for Medical Care
by James Park"

I plan to get a hold of the book, read it carefully and redo our Living Wills.

[RiverBird]

Originally Posted by BellaDL

We signed our Living Wills years ago so I don't remember all the details but I think they were based on some standard forms of our state. This thread prompted me to google for a more details, more specific Advance Directive & I found this great example

ADVANCE DIRECTIVES (Medical Care)---James Park's Living Will.

Here is the link to the main page

ADVANCE DIRECTIVES (Medical Care)---Your Last Year: Creating Your Own Advance Directive for Medical Care
"YOUR LAST YEAR - Creating Your Own Advance Directive for Medical Care
by James Park"

I plan to get a hold of the book, read it carefully and redo our Living Wills.

Thanks for the info.

Today I was driving and listening to this show, and had to pull into a parking lot to finish listening as it was so interesting. This may cause some of us to change what is in our Advance Directive (Living Will). It reveals what doctors vs. patients want for themselves. You can listen to the podcast here:

Reckoning With End of Life Care - Radiolab

[Harpaint]

Thanks for the link to the Radiolab discussion. Very informative and succinct. After listening I don't even want hydration if it involves an IV! Nothing if I'm not capable of deciding.