Something to ponder...
Mary Mathews
I recently had minimal invasive spine surgery. I remember someone at the
hospital asking me if I had a 'living will' which I do. I was told to
bring it to the hospital. I know that some people have their 'living
wills' filed at the hospital. I don't feel comfortable with that. I
leave mine at home, in the safe, where any one of my sons can get it and
take it to the hospital, hopefully after a second opinion, if the time
arises.
I just wonder what your thoughts are on this issue. Thanks. Mary
Rod Speed
> I recently had minimal invasive spine surgery. I remember someone
> at the hospital asking me if I had a 'living will' which I do. I was
> told to bring it to the hospital. I know that some people have their
> 'living wills' filed at the hospital. I don't feel comfortable with that.
Why ?
> I leave mine at home, in the safe, where any one of my sons can get it and
> take it to the hospital, hopefully after a second opinion, if the time arises.
Sounds like that could see the kids fighting over what to tell the hospital about your wishes.
> I just wonder what your thoughts are on this issue.
Hard to say unless you say why you arent keen on the hospital having it.
George
to execute it. They make sure it happens by recording the instructions
such as DNR on your chart so that if you had gone into a condition where
you couldn't communicate they could act accordingly. What if your sons
predecease you or just aren't available for some reason or can't open
the safe or any number of such things?
Lou
"Mary Mathews" <marya...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:8092-47A1...@storefull-3311.bay.webtv.net...
In the event that you couldn't speak for yourself, I'd be surprised if one
of your sons could get the hospital to recognize the document unless he also
had a medical power of attorney. And if you could speak for yourself, you
wouldn't need the will.
Mary Mathews
Lou, I have all the legal stuff, and at least one of my 3 sons will
always be with me in serious situations. I just prefer that the control
remain with my family, whom I trust completely. I would like to think
that there would be a second opinion, and that my life would not be cut
short to harvest organs that I willingly donate. Perhaps I read too
much. Mary
rhal...@gmail.com
So make a few copies. File one at the hospital.
George
> Lou, I have all the legal stuff, and at least one of my 3 sons will
> always be with me in serious situations.
Not Lou but how could you possibly have absolute assurance of that? As
they say "things happen", just look at scenarios I described earlier in
this thread for some possibilities. It makes perfect sense that any
medical provider (or any provider for that matter) would want to know
your directives prior to providing service rather than scrambling at the
last minute. And as Lou suggested if you should be unable to communicate
it is possible that the hospital may not even accept the unknown source
piece of paper your son gives to them.
Lou
<rhal...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:05b77779-3fa9-48b7...@k39g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
You make it sound so simple - maybe it is wherever you are, but my wife and
I went through this about three years ago with my mother-in-law, and it sure
wasn't. My mother-in-law had a living will, my wife had the medical power
of attorney, and every time her mother went into the hospital, she had to go
through the whole rigmarole. Sometimes we'd have to pull out the documents
when we were visiting her mother in the hospital and go through them with
whoever was in charge at the nurses station on that floor that evening.
I'm not saying that I think there was willful neglect or any intention of
ignoring my mother-in-law's wishes on the part of her doctors or the
hospital staff, but there are times when things just get lost in the
bureaucratic shuffle. Filing a copy at "the" local hospital strikes me as
likely to do as much good as tossing a copy in the trash.
Lou
I don't know if you're reading too much or you're reading the wrong stuff.
In NJ, if your wishes are made clear then they must be respected. Any
problem with this is more likely to be a physician's or hospital's
unwillingness to withhold certain treatments than it is to be murdered for
the sake of any usable organs that could be obtained from your corpse. And
I somewhat doubt that anyone willing to commit such an atrocity would be
deterred by a piece of paper.
A doctor who refuses to withhold or withdraw life support because of his/her
beliefs is supposed to make that clear and transfer the patient to a
physician who is willing to comply with your wishes. Similarly,
religious-affiliated institutions my adopt policies at odds with your
wishes, and such institutions must explain this at the earliest opportunity
and make arrangements to transfer and accommodate you at another facility.
Again, in NJ the usual advanced directive requires your physician and at
least one other doctor who has personally examined to agree that you're
condition is such that the provisions of your directive apply (in other
words, there's a second opinion).
Mary Mathews
Thank all of you for your input. I had only one example to base my
concerns on. My neighbor collapsed. The rescue squad took him to the
nearest hospital where his situation was diagnosed as brain dead. His
wife asked for his records. She called a specialist at Duke who had
treated her husband occasionally to see if he would give an opinion. He
agreed so a friend hurried there with my neighbors recent test results.
After reviewing the test results, the doctor at Duke agreed with the
local specialists. Then my neighbor's wife went home. got his living
will and took it back to the local hospital. Her husband's tubes. etc.
were removed. In less than 24 hours he had died peacefully. I
appreciated the way this situation was handled completely. Mary
Frank
"Lou" <lpogoda...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:dsydnT3YSJbLIz7a...@comcast.com...
I had a procedure performed six months ago and the hospital couldn't even
locate the information on their computer system. I'm sure its in the
computer system but my doctor didn't know where is was filed or if its
misfiled or erased - it was in the computer system three months ago. I also
receive a letter from the same hospital updating my medical history but that
letter addressed to me had the information for another patient - I bet my
information was forwarded to someone else. I don't think anyone double check
those things - sounds like a good chance to have the wrong arm or leg
amputated. With this kind of diligent, I just hope they could find the
advance directive in time, and not someone else's directive. One thing my
hospital is good at is raising the insurance premiums every year and
collecting payments - they are so efficient and never fail, whish they are
as good at taking care of you when the time comes. Murphy's Law happens at
the worst time, I understand Mary's concerts.