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Interesting thread.
I did the advanced directive and POA last month.
But if I were asked in person, being awake and in full mental capacity, I would probably say "It depends." If you can assure me I won't be a vegetable. If you can assure me I will still have my wits about me. If you are reasonably certain that this is a temporary state and I will recover enough to go on with a fairly normal life. All these "ifs" can only be answered by the medical personnel who hopefully have treated others with my condition, whatever that may be. And, then, I would leave the final word up to God (and the doctor).
As long as I am enjoying life and actively participating in it, I would answer yes. Five or ten years from now (if I happen to live that long) the situation might be different, and so the answer might be different too.
Hear! Hear! The only difference would be if I was brain dead or was determined to be in a persistent, vegetative state.
Quote:
Originally Posted by luvmyhoss
They only want a yes or no.
Cause I would agree it depends.
I would hope that everyone has a POA for health care/living will.
IIRC, our Advanced Directive asked about the various conditions under which you would want to be kept alive.
And a reminder -if you have a DNR never allow anyone to call an ambulance to your home if you should collapse. The paramedics' job is to get you to the hospital alive (where then they will respect your DNR) and they will resuscitate.
I would think that this would be a tough one for others who are in the room and it's going to be an automatic response to call 911 when you see a loved one on the floor. So that's something they don't tell you that you may want to discuss with people who live with you.
It's a judgment call for family and will depend upon how much they know about your condition.
I learned on another thread here at C-D that, as mentioned above, the advance directive leaves some room for the "it depends".
For me, since I'm still pretty young I want to be resuscitated. I know and know of people who have lived decades after heart attacks from which they were revived. But I do not want extraordinary means taken--even at that point there is room for "it depends." I do not want to be kept alive in a vegetative state, but often they don't know when placing a feeding tube or other types of life support whether a person will recover and to what extent.
My choice is to opt out of the feeding tube, and that ought to take care of the other disturbing eventualities in adequate time for my family to come to terms with things but not so much time as to be tragic or tragically expensive.
So I've considered it, but it'd still be a shock to be sitting in my hospital gown being asked if I'm okay with dying in the next little bit!! What a way to come face to face with one's mortality!!
If I had severe chest pain, I probably wouldn't go near a hospital.
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