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Post by jeremy on Nov 22, 2006 4:11:56 GMT -5
This a great question. It requires that the public have knowledge of the healthcare system and the potential life extending treatments and scenarios they may encounter. This is a difficult process. Dr. Leon Kass states that it's really impossible to describe all of those circumstances that one is going to face. I would recommend using a guidebook to help facilitate this discussion on end-of-life decisions.
Here are some scenarios to think about:
Where would you like to die? At home, in a hospital? Would you want to be sedated if it were necessary to control your pain? If you could no longer swallow, would you want to be tube fed? Would you choose to begin or continue treatments if you could no longer think for yourself?
What wishes would you want to include in your advance directive? What would you leave out. How do you decide?
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don
New Member
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Post by don on Nov 27, 2006 22:07:49 GMT -5
Here's my 2 cents. I definitely don't want to die in a hospital. It is so cold and sterile. I have been volunteering in the emergency room of my local hospital and just saw my first patient die. He came in by ambulance with heart failure. The room was buzzing with motion as the team struggled to perform CPR and revive him. After several minutes of chest compressions and using the defibrillators, the attending doctor pronounced him dead. Suddenly, everything stopped. The room emptied out quickly except for the nurse and tech who cleaned him up and got the patient ready for the morgue. I don't know if I would want all these extreme measures. I would rather die surrounded by family at home. I've heard that defibrillators rarely work anyway so what's the point? Of course, medicine has its place, but feeding tubes and breathing machines are too much. I would just want medicine to control my pain and to make my last moments more comfortable.
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Post by ddddyyyy on Jul 17, 2009 3:32:37 GMT -5
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