Advance directive? i just received a c

  • Thread starter Thread starter anna
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We are not required to go to extraordinary means to keep on living. It is perfectly moral to simply die, in fact, I pray that I die that way - good one day, gone the next. No extended death with machines and agony.
 
Our Catholic Hospitals requires before any surgical procedure for a form to be filled out, witnessed and put in the file (DNR Yes/No sort of thing).

For those with chronic conditions, a DNR in their records needs to be updated each year and they do review it with any hospitalization.
 
Hi, see this is where I have to read, process and pray. If one is 'brain gone ’ ok I understand, but I never really thought about a directive being good or bad…I know everyone has a different opinion, but if you are alive and can see,speak and here, walk etc, and that directive stops your life.I have to pray, because it seems to me right now that this is a way to rid society of the sick and elderly. I need to work this out…I respect all of you. God bless you.
 
The directive does not stop your life. The directive says if my life is ending, don’t go to extraordinary means to slow that process. If my heart stops beating, do not shock me. If I stop breathing, do not intubate me, etc.
 
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I didn’t say her health was 100%. She was a dialysis patient , this started about 6 months ago. She also had operations on her knees. And yes, she would have beeb alright, go back read my post to Father. God bless
 
anna said:
She could have been alright but her family had a do not resuscitate directive on her.
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If she was as spry, alert, active, as you say. It would make more sense to think that this was a decision made in conjunction between herself, her physician, and her family. Not something that was inflicted on her unknowingly.
 
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I have Advance Directives that do not include the physician Do Not Resuscitate order. They do include the designation of my wife as Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA) for healthcare decisions and a Living Will stating that I do not want extraordinary means. I think we all should have Advance Directives and conversations with who we would appoint as DPOA.
 
I cannot ask her that, because I think if they [ family and her] knew that the circumstances were what they were, it would have been different. You did not know her and I am not going to defend my right to have a difference of opinion or no opinion give me the time to get all the information, starting exactly what our Mother Church has to say, I reserve that right, With that I thank you for your post, I have an early wake up with my kids God bless
 
anna said:
She could have been alright but her family had a do not resuscitate directive on her.
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If someone at the facility actually used those words to you, they were almost certainly violating privacy laws. Personally, I’d report him or her, because that was extremely unprofessional.

And you have to remember that, since you obviously weren’t on her medical team, there may well be things you don’t know about her medical history and conditions, and about what happened when she died.
There would have to be very specific conditions met for her family to have had a DNR without her consent. It’s not something you can just do for the heck of it.
 
I am sorry for your loss, anna. My dad had a DNR and I am so grateful that he did. He was in the hospital for an unrelated situation, going to be discharged the next day. His heart went into V-tach (I believe). We were told he would not live through the night without extreme invasive procedures (life support). And then there was no guarantee he would ever go home - he feared lingering. He made the decision on his own and used that decision to the glory of God. He must have told over 50 people that night (doctors, nurses, friends) that he wanted to go live with Jesus. He wrote it out, showed it to everyone. What a testimony to faithfulness! We laugh now that he even told the doctors what suit he wanted to wear. The important thing is that he was able to tell us what he wanted and we didn’t have to wrestle with the decision ourselves.
 
Look Anna, I am very sorry for your loss. I am just saying that for an oriented person they know if they have a DNR order. In fact they can go back and forth numerous times over it, instating it, then rescinding it, reinstating it, then rescinding…even if they have a POA, even if its against the wishes of their family
 
The brother of a guy I know had his ex-wife put a DNR on him so she could, like, get all of the inheritance and, like, after he died the priest wouldn’t, like, give him a Catholic burial because, like, the Pope declared that DNRs are, like, infallible or something like that.
 
I can certainly understand that a DNR is appropriate for a person who is terminally ill or already dying. That would simply be sound medical judgment not to attempt to revive a person in such a condition.

What I have never quite understood is this: The DNR, as well as an advance directive. is in effect a substitute for sound medical judgment made at the time a crisis actually occurs. A layperson patient is asked to make a prior medical decision about what course of action to take in the event of some unknown future occurrence. Why is this not a matter of using sound medical judgment in particular cases instead of shifting the judgment off to the patient about something he has not yet experienced?
 
JimG, good question. It has to do with patient autonomy and yet, the patient often does not have a clue of the possibilities. That is why most Living Wills these days are pretty simple. I remember one form that got into some specific question about antibiotics, blood, and diagnostic imaging, etc. Someone in the medical profession might appreciate it but anyone else was lost. Often we get into a situation where the patient or DPOA doesn’t agree with the doctor on what “sound medical judgement” is.
 
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I think it’s to protect medical people from lawsuits, but it’s still a cop-out. “Tell me ahead of time whether I should let you die or not in certain unforeseen circumstances.”
 
I am sure different states are different, but a DNR addresses mainly an emergency situation, where one’s spouse may not even be present and likely there is no time to contact them. In general, you should not have one if you are healthy. If terminally ill, and in pain, you do not want emergency personnel trying to restart your heart, which they are required to do unless a DNR is evident.
 
Yes, and lets not forget "Comfort Care. Too ften a DNR is seen as “doing nothing” but actually the goals of care have shifted. There is still a lot of care to be given.
 
Well the conversation usually involves some foreseen circumstances. The patient might not fully grasp what they entail but the efforts to at least get his or her desire is good.
 
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