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Thank you, Mary Ann. You've made me aware that the living will I currently have is completely inadequate and doesn't meet most of my desires. It was prepared at the same time as my will and is very basic. "If I'm brain dead pull the plug" but I can see that can be very confusing to my son (who was required to sign the living will) since hospitals now have many ways to keep a person "alive". I am,however, just cynical enough to believe that all artificial life would be cut off by the medical care system when everyone's money ran out. Sami -------Original Message------- From: Mary Ann Ryan Date: 8/13/2009 11:00:23 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: question re living will This is an excellent question for everyone. As a nurse, I have witnessed hundreds of resuscitations - many of which were against the wishes of the patient. So here are some of my suggestions regarding the construction of a living will. Please remember to be very clear about your wishes. Please consider answering the following questions: Do you wish to be resuscitated. If so, under which conditions? If you are brain damaged so that you no longer have any quality of life, do you wish to have cardiac massage and be placed on a Vent (a device that is placed in your trachea and allows for artificial ventilation). How long should you remain on a vent (weeks, months, years) and when should it be removed? Do you wish to have the instillation of a feeding tube? If so, how long do you wish to receive nourishment in this manner (days, weeks, months, years)? When should it be removed? Do you wish to have IV therapy if you are incapable of receiving hydration in any other manner? For how long? When should such therapy be removed? At what age do you no longer wish to be resuscitated? Please keep in mind that after the age of eighty, successful resuscitation occurs in only about 1% of those brought back to life and only 10% of that number ever leave the hospital. A chemical code is different from a full Do Not Resuscitate order. In a chemical code, blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmias are corrected. So, please consider what therapies should be in place in the event of a cardiac crisis. Although the question was addressed to people with PD, the reality is that when quality of life is adversely affected by any disease, a decision must be made regarding whether to resuscitate recognizing that quality of life will probably be worse post resuscitation. My husband stated clearly, when we constructed a living will, that he wanted everything possible to be done. Within a year he had a coronary. His decision to persevere, no matter what, made the decision to permit bypass surgery so much easier for me and for him. His doctors, at the time, we shocked that we opted for a full code status and surgery. In the end, he lived five years longer, being able to see his first grandchild and participate to some degree in life. His condition post surgery was severely impacted. Nonetheless, we both were very happy that he was around for those five years. --------- God bless Mary Ann (CG Jamie 68/28 with PD, died 11/20/07) Do www.bentwillowfarm.org ----- Original Message ----- From: "kbachn" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 8:37 AM Subject: question re living will ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn