Quality of Life.
I wanted to tell you more about the Advance
Planning visit. First you will have to
pay your regular insurance deductible when you make this visit with the nurse,
but in my opinion it is worth your while.
The oncology office provide you with a file of information that you
really should read through before the time and take the time to discuss it thoroughly with your spouse. The first paper I had to complete was about:
“patient Values and Goals for Healthcare”
really its all about when you get to a stage where you close to dying or
simply unable to make good decisions for your self because of your cancer
condition.
The questions went like this
How valuable is it to me…
Have freedom of pain, even if it takes
strong medication…
Be able to sleep well and wake up feeling
rested…
Be able express my sexuality to my partner
in a way that is pleasing to me..
Be able to move about freely…
Know that I am not a burden…
Choose who will make medical decisions for
me…
Choose where my medical care occurs when
nearing end of life…
Have nutritional intake, even if I am
unable to chew…
Be able to get deep breaths, even if I am
required help from a breathing machine…
Be told by my physician when I am dying…
I had to rate on this paper how valuable
each of these events is to me. Then
the next questionnaire that is a
three page form called “Out-of Hospital-Do-Not Resuscitate”. MM!!
I decided to draw a big x over this , I
want to live and at least be resuscitated twice. Then the nurse said most people that are
resuscitated collapse within the next three weeks. Well I just don’t care I want to live. It is then that we went into the discussion
of “Quality of Life” Just being alive is not enough life is about quality of
life. This is a difficult conversation
for me, I want to live no matter what!
It is like I want to scream it out to the whole world I want to
live. I am sure I told that to Katie the
nurse that really was so patiently walking me through this paperwork. Then cam the form called “medical Power of Attorney” – this form was
ultimately important in my case since Arthur my domestic partner and I are
divorced even though we know had being working on restoring our relationship
for the past 18 months.
We went ahead
and completed the disclosure statement for Medical Power of Attorney advance
directives. We left a copy with the
doctor and Arthur took the original. I
did name my son and daughter (adult) as alternative agents. On limitations on decision making authority
it excluded commitment to mental institution, psycho surgery and convulsive
therapy. You may also limit the power of
attorney to a specific time period. The
next form is called “Living Will Directive to Physicians and Family or Surrogates” I originally wrote in here that I want to be
kept alive in a terminal condition for at least 6 months. Then the nurse gave me the quality of life
speech again and explained the statistical number of people that recover and
that there is hardly any and if they do what will the quality of life be. Then I chose to be kept alive in this
irreversible condition using available life sustaining treatment for six
months. Again the nurse gave me the
quality of life speech with all the statistical numbers. Again I said I don’t think I am going to die
and I want to live. After a 3 hour
conversation I decided that quality of life is properly what one look for today
not just “life”. So I changed my
directive to be kept alive only for 3 weeks and if after 3 week if there is no
medical evidence that I am responding then medical care can be withdrawn.
Proverbs 4:7 - Wisdom [is] the principal thing;
[therefore] get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
James 1:5 - If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask
of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be
given him.
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