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Living With Serious Illness |
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 Decisions
To Make, Decisions To Wait
In the course of a serious illness, there may be lots of possible
pathways. Treatment choices, such as tube
feeding, cardiopulmonary resuscitation,
and diagnostic tests, are likely to be brought up for discussion and
decisions. It is good to have a general idea as to how and when you
might want them used. But almost none of the decisions that you might
be called on to make have to be made immediately. Sometimes you need
time, experience, and advice to choose a plan. Sometimes the actual
plan is less important than what you talk about and who you talk with
when you discuss alternatives. And usually, the important decisions
are not the ones that show up in legal forms.
Decisions to make include choosing who should speak for you if you
are too sick to let the doctor know what you want for yourself. If
there is a particular hospital you always want to go to, or a set
of procedures you already know that you would never undergo, let everyone
around know about it. But there is often no hurry to make a lot of
other decisions. Issues need decisions only if and when certain situations
arise, and often only then will you know all the details that could
influence your choice.
No
one "right way "
There is no one right way to live with or die of a serious illness.
It may be more important that you are comfortable with your situation
and your choices than that you have made perfect plans. Most of the
really wonderful things that happen as time gets short could not have
been planned. If you have a trustworthy nurse or doctor and some folks
who will miss you, all the rest can be quite manageable. |
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Adapted from The
Handbook for Mortals: Guidance for People Facing Serious Illness,
by Joanne Lynn and Joan Harrold, copyright by Joanne Lynn, used by
permission of Oxford University Press.
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