What if we spent as much time discussing our latter days’ quality of life as we do our estate planning?
If I could turn back time, knowing what I know now, I would press my parents to provide specific directions for their care in the case of a catastrophe or serious illness. If we’d had an explicit plan for a sudden crisis like a heart attack or a stroke, I might have asked the doctors for a more candid assessment of my father’s prognosis when he suffered a major heart attack during routine surgery to remove a colon polyp. If I’d talked with my mother about comfort care and how people under sedation often die from pneumonia and dehydration, I might have been more comfortable myself when her own departure unfolded along this course.
Certainly, these experiences inform my own behavior now. At age 71, I’ve made sure my family understands my views about futile treatments if medical catastrophe has felled me and the chance of recovery is slim.”
Compassion & Choices
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