As uncomfortable as it may sound, we all need to have this end of life discussion with our loved ones at some point. Might as well be sooner than later.
No one wants to talk about end of life; we, likely, all hope we’ll go quietly in our sleep. But that is not always the case as some of us will unfortunately suffer before our death. The latter begs the question of how do you want your final days to go? What about being hooked hooked up to machines? How much intervention do you want? What about power of attorney? A do-not-resuscitate? Who knows your wishes? Have your parents written up this information, and if they have do you know where a copy is?
I read several medical blogs written by doctors that discuss everything in medicine including end of life. We, as doctors, know all that can go into saving someone’s life yet most doctors, themselves, would choose little to no intervention for certain diseases, and would rather die at home. The average person, or family, puts faith in doctors abilities while not often being ready to let go of loved ones so easily. Suffering lives are extended, to some degree, as a result, but for whose purpose?
Dr. Zubin Damania, MD has spent over 10 years working in hospice care, and has an alter ego of a rapping doctor: ZDoggMD. ZDoggMD makes videos to help bring awareness to things that he himself could not do so easily. One of those subjects that he recently rapped about was the end of life discussion. If you would like, you can watch the video here (don’t forget to share it if you liked it):
This kind of conversation is not an easy one to have, but there are places where you can get more information to be able to understand the ins and outs of these kinds of decisions. In addition to Dr. Damania’s message, the Conversation Project offers you a place to get just that. Take the time to make things a bit easier on your family as your family does not want to make the decisions for you, or regret the decisions that they did make.
Source: Every Day Health
Image Credit: Nasrallah server (Wikipedia) (CC 4.0)