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How Doctors Die
Dec. 6th, 2011 05:51 pmIf you hope to die peacefully, without crazy and costly measures taken to prolong your life, you're going to have to script it, in detail, and make sure that your doctor, your spouse, your siblings, your children and even your best friends know what you want. My father was shocked to find out that DNR meant that no one would attempt to resuscitate him if he had stopped breathing. But if it was anything short of that, the caregivers would call an ambulance. Because everyone fears lawsuits, and no one wants to explain why they didn't do enough.
My father had to say no. In fact, once he had decided that he was not going to "even out," that there was not going to be an easier period before his death, even with a dozen medications assisting, he kept saying no. It was the last thing he said -- no, to everything, for fear that he'd be taken back to a hospital and we'd be unable to get him unhooked from those machines he'd had a horror of.
A large percentage of doctors die at home, gently. Hospice is not always easy or pretty, but it can be painless for the person dying -- and that's the point. If the pain and fear is controlled, you can have the best death any of us can hope for. Sometimes, people even have more time left, relaxing, away from hospitals and medications.
Which is why Doctors tend to refuse all the things other people get talked or pressured into. Start thinking about it a bit now -- do little things like create documents with passwords, phone numbers, staff to contact. There are nonprofits you can join and put your last wishes on file -- and make sure your family knows you've done this.
Because in the end, you probably don't want the torture that gives you a ten percent chance at lousy quality of life. You want to say goodbye to the people you love, and see a few movies that make you laugh.
My father had to say no. In fact, once he had decided that he was not going to "even out," that there was not going to be an easier period before his death, even with a dozen medications assisting, he kept saying no. It was the last thing he said -- no, to everything, for fear that he'd be taken back to a hospital and we'd be unable to get him unhooked from those machines he'd had a horror of.
A large percentage of doctors die at home, gently. Hospice is not always easy or pretty, but it can be painless for the person dying -- and that's the point. If the pain and fear is controlled, you can have the best death any of us can hope for. Sometimes, people even have more time left, relaxing, away from hospitals and medications.
Which is why Doctors tend to refuse all the things other people get talked or pressured into. Start thinking about it a bit now -- do little things like create documents with passwords, phone numbers, staff to contact. There are nonprofits you can join and put your last wishes on file -- and make sure your family knows you've done this.
Because in the end, you probably don't want the torture that gives you a ten percent chance at lousy quality of life. You want to say goodbye to the people you love, and see a few movies that make you laugh.
