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Yeah, it's pretty scary thinking that while I"m unconscious, someone might actually be setting my broken leg so that once I heal, I'll still be able to walk. Or if I have a bloody nose, they might actually attempt to stop up the blood so that I don't bleed to death. Or if there's a piece of car bumper sticking into my hip, they get it out of my hip and give me a tetanus shot so I can wake up again and not spend the rest of my shortened life in agony.
Scary thought, the notion that doctors might possibly be able to treat injuries that might kill you if left untreated.
Next time you have a broken arm, don't go to the doctor. Don't get it treated at all. Get back to us on how that goes for ya.
Or hey - how about an abcessed tooth with dry socket, that's always fun. No treatment at all, don't forget. You don't want any treatment.
Then again, there's something to be said for nature culling her own herd...
Fantastic. Your choice is your choice. Congrats. But you have to respect other people's choices.
Fantastic. Your choice is your choice. Congrats. But you have to respect other people's choices.
As long as your choice doesn't infringe on my choices, I'm fine with you bleeding to death in the road. Unfortunately, my right to drive on the road, would be impeded by your choice to bleed to death. And so - no, I would have to not respect your choice in such a situation.
Also, if, by honoring your wish to not be treated while unconcious, it meant you took up a hospital bed that someone who DID want treatment, needed, just because the doctors weren't allowed to treat you and no one could carry you out of the hospital...then your right to not be treated, would infringe on their right to be treated. And again - in that case, I would not respect your choice in such a situation. If you want to die, then die. Just don't do it in a way that infringes on anyone else's right to live.
Also, if, by honoring your wish to not be treated while unconcious, it meant you took up a hospital bed that someone who DID want treatment, needed, just because the doctors weren't allowed to treat you and no one could carry you out of the hospital...then your right to not be treated, would infringe on their right to be treated. And again - in that case, I would not respect your choice in such a situation. If you want to die, then die. Just don't do it in a way that infringes on anyone else's right to live.
The moment I am unconscious, I stop being in charge. I can only hope others would follow my wishes. In that situation, I would expect to be sent home even unconscious.
If I'm awake, I just get out like I did when I had the car crash. I was supposed to stay there for 5 days and I left the day after. I took all the tubes and needles out myself, packed my things and left.
An advance medical directive will accomplish what you want if it is on file at the hospital you are taken to otherwise you are going to get emergency life sustaining medical care until things get sorted out. That is why you should always carry some form of information for an emergency contact. Make it easy to find because during an emergency no one is going to start flipping through junk to find it.
My elderly aunt had one drawn up, and also accorded me both regular and medical powers of attorney for her. She carried my contact information in her wallet and let her doctor know I had the medical power of attorney. When she was admitted to the hospital for dehydration, it was discovered upon re-hydrating her that she had a huge lung cancer tumor that no one knew about. He called me on the phone and asked me if she would want surgery (seriously? at 95?) and I told him no. I flew back east to the hospital the next day and she slipped peacefully away in a morphine-induced haze.
One of the best things she ever did for me was to make her wishes clearly known to me in writing. I didn't have to agonize wondering what she would have wanted or make huge decisions while in an emotionally upset state about a loved one that I was very close to. OTOH, it was kind of a strange feeling to stop any but palliative medical care, but I knew without any doubt whatsoever that that was what she wanted.
Yeah, it's pretty scary thinking that while I"m unconscious, someone might actually be setting my broken leg so that once I heal, I'll still be able to walk. Or if I have a bloody nose, they might actually attempt to stop up the blood so that I don't bleed to death. Or if there's a piece of car bumper sticking into my hip, they get it out of my hip and give me a tetanus shot so I can wake up again and not spend the rest of my shortened life in agony.
Scary thought, the notion that doctors might possibly be able to treat injuries that might kill you if left untreated.
Next time you have a broken arm, don't go to the doctor. Don't get it treated at all. Get back to us on how that goes for ya.
Or hey - how about an abcessed tooth with dry socket, that's always fun. No treatment at all, don't forget. You don't want any treatment.
Then again, there's something to be said for nature culling her own herd...
I am with the OP on this one. I don't want people doing this while I am unconscious either. I want to make the decision for my health, my treatment, etc. There is nothing about anything that you have written that cannot wait until you are conscious and able to make your own decisions.
I am with the OP on this one. I don't want people doing this while I am unconscious either. I want to make the decision for my health, my treatment, etc. There is nothing about anything that you have written that cannot wait until you are conscious and able to make your own decisions.
20yrsinBranson
The OP isn't asking how to refuse treatment *only* when he's unconcious. He is saying he doesn't want to be treated at all, period. INCLUDING when he's unconscious.
I'm saying - if he wants to die, to just do it and get it over with and not waste anyone's time having to even wonder what his wishes are. His wish is clear: if he gets into an accident, OR has a stroke, OR becomes unconscious, he wants to be left to die and NOT taken to the hospital. He said this very plainly, very clearly, and very specifically, in his initial post.
Of course, he also said he was in a car accident and severely injured, yet was somehow able to pull all his tubes and needles and what not out of his body, get dressed, and walk out of the hospital unaided after only a couple of days in the hospital. That says to me - he wasn't all that badly injured. Or maybe it never happened at all and he's just making it up to see how many bites he can get with his troll-rod.
Let's say you suffered a severe cut to your arm, and if left completely alone, you would bleed to death. You would not want someone to apply pressure while elevating your arm, to slow down the bleeding? Would even that much "medical care" be against your wishes? Of course, the person applying pressure can only stand there so long....at some point stitches will need to be sewn. Is that not acceptable?
What about the Heimlich maneuver if you were choking? Granted, you would be conscious in the beginning after the choking started, but in 2 or 3 minutes you would be unconscious.
Sudden cardiac arrest? If you were in an area with emergency defibrillators, you wouldn't want someone to restart your heart?
I guess I'm thinking of all these simple medical interventions that save lives if used, or the person dies within a few minutes if they are not used......and I'm trying to understand if these are the kinds of things you want to be sure are never used on you? May I ask why?
Of course, he also said he was in a car accident and severely injured, yet was somehow able to pull all his tubes and needles and what not out of his body, get dressed, and walk out of the hospital unaided after only a couple of days in the hospital. That says to me - he wasn't all that badly injured. Or maybe it never happened at all and he's just making it up to see how many bites he can get with his troll-rod.
I never said I did it completely on my own. Yes, I took it all out on my own but then I called a friend to help me and take me home.
The only thing that you can ask the medical professionals to honor, is a request to not be recussitated, or a request to not attempt to take extraordinary measures to save you if you are at the verge of life or death.
But no, there really isn't any kind of legal document that you can create, that a medical professional would be obligated to obey, to prevent them from treating an injury if you were brought into their care, injured. You could probably get a religious exemption for things like transplants and infusions. But if you were rolled into the emergency room with your femur sticking out of your leg, they won't just stand there and wait for you to become conscious again and hobble your way back out of the hospital.
And if an ambulance is called and comes to your aid, they won't just leave you on the street, if you're unconscious. Not only would it be irresponsible of them, it would also create a traffic hazard, because the police would have to divert traffic around you while everyone waited for you to bleed to death, since you refuse to allow anyone to treat you.
No, there is nothing you can do to prevent medical professionals from treating you. You can expect them to not try to keep you alive with machines and tubes, and you can expect them to not try to recussitate you if your heart stops. And the blood transfusion and transplant thing. Other than that, not really.
Summary: You can ask that they not -save- you, but you can't expect them to not -treat- you. Different things. One yes, the other no.
Completely untrue and nonsense.
If you are injured and someone takes you to a hospital or a physicians office, you can refuse treatment. That is a fact. To say otherwise is just another one of those guessing posts.
A person breaks their leg. An ambulance arrives and transports them to the hospital. That person can refuse additional medical treatment even if leaving the leg untreated could cause them to bleed out if they leave. People do it all the time.
A person with an AMD that prohibits resuscitation goes into a surgery. Their heart stops along with other things like breathing. No, the medial people there are not going to "treat" them nor perform any life saving or life preserving techniques. That too, happens.
Just where are you getting all this bad info? You put out a lot of it. It would be one thing if they were opinion but you post them as fact by the way you present it.
. I took all the tubes and needles out myself, packed my things and left.
If you meant "I took all the tubes and needles out myself, had someone pack my things for me because I was still severely injured since I was only there for 2 days, which isn't enough for severe injuries to heal, and then had someone carry me out of the hospital since my severe injuries prevented me from walking out by myself," then you should've said that.
But you didn't. I can only respond to what I read. I can only read what you post. But you just keep embellishing the story so it makes sense.
People say that I argue semantics - I'm not arguing semantics. I read what people write, and I respond to what I read. If you mean something other than what you post, then you need to post that instead.
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