Coming soon to a home near you: USATODAY.com – Living wills go out socially.
Lingerie, Tupperware and murder mystery parties. They’ve been the rage for years. Now add a new one to the list: living wills parties.
I think this is a good idea, really. I’ve droned on about advanced directives before, and the act of making your wishes known to your loved ones helps everyone when decision time comes.
“Something is better than nothing”
Maybe, but the point of the article was really that those all-purpose forms might not really be better than nothing.
I think my sister really expressed my thoughts better than I could have. She said that she trusts that the people who love her will make the best decision based on the facts at the time. It helps a lot that my family is really feisty, but used to settling our differences among ourselves. She still needs a healthcare proxy, though.
In repsponse to Judy, above, I hope that your sister already has advance directives and is counting on her family to make a decision based on her already stated wishes.
I have heard other people make similar statements who DO NOT have any advanced directives/living wills written down. WHen this is the case, the family is wracked with guilt and grief trying to make that decision at an emotional time. The question taht the physicians should be asking the family is , “What would she have wanted?” Not what the family wants. So even when the family makes the final decision, it should always be based on the wishes of the sick (& dying?) person. That is why these thing sneed to be discussed beforehand and made know to several family members if not written down in a formalized form.
What my sister meant was that while she certainly has opinions – and expresses them – she is reluctant to have a formal advance directive, because it is not possible to anticipate all possible eventualities. I think it’s helpful to have general concepts in an advance directive, and someone whom you trust to have your healthcare proxy.