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> Mary Ann - I'm so sorry you may be faced with decisions you won't want to > make, and yet, you know you will be. I wish you the very best, and know > the decisions you make will help him make the transition peacefully. > Best to you. Jo Ann Thank you for your comments, JoAnn, but actually I don't have to worry about making any difficult decision in regard to my husband's health. The Living Will actually has made that decision for me. My husband has clearly stated that he wants everything done to maintain his life *as long as he has not incurred irreversible and profound brain damage.* That's what a Living Will is for. What that means for me is, everytime he is admitted to the hospital and a doctor asks what his code status should be, my reply will be that Jamie is a Full Code - in otherwords, he is to be resuscitated. That is his wish - that is what we discussed at length before he signed his living will. What I wanted to emphasize in my post was that a Living Will does not mean that the patient is automatically a 'no code.' That question will continue to be asked by medical personnel on every admission to the hospital regardless of the Living Will. So.....a person might sign a Living Will that stipulates that nothing is to be done in the event of profound brain damage but the medical personnel receiving that Will will have no idea what that individual's interpretation of 'profound brain damage' or 'an inability to make decisions in regard to maintaining life' might be. The bottom line is, expect to be asked for a code status regardless of whether you have a Living Will or not. Incidentally, Durable Power Of Attorney and Living Will documents are to be presented to hospital personnel **on every admission.** Do not expect those documents to be resurrected from a previous admission - even if that admission was last week. Also, if a 'No Code' or 'Code' status has been stipulated on a previous admission, it is not valid for the new admission. ----------- God bless Mary Ann ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn