Sunday, July 15, 2012

Addressing the Costs of Life . . . and Death

Expenses surrounding death certainly can go crazy or be reasonable.

I recently spent some time at Physicians Regional in the Coronary Care Unit.    There was an elderly woman who never moved, never opened her eyes, during the 20 hours or so that I was there.  I had heard "d.n.r." uttered between a lead nurse and others in the hallway, but I rarely recall a moment when the patient wasn't being attended by one medical staff member or another.  There were ample visitors, and I could tell that they were saying good-bye to a dearly beloved.  However, the one thought that came to me time and time again was that, if that woman could talk, she'd probably ask to quit everything and let her go. 


Being the thrifty person that I am, I often think of the incredible expenses incurred in the last days of life and beyond.  Therefore, I was very interested in an article in today's News Sentinel by Joyce Richman which referenced a piece entitled How Doctors Die.  Bottom line:  doctors, knowing what they know, don't spend nearly as much time, energy and MONEY on keeping themselves on this side of "the river"  when things get bad.

So far I have not been involved in any superfluous efforts to keep a loved one alive.  My dad had advanced dementia when the "old man's friend," pneumonia, visited yet one more time and took him away.  My mother was diagnosed with full-blown cancer on a Thursday, went into a coma on Friday and died the next Tuesday.  Even her veins cooperated in her rapid demise:  they became too thin to hold an i.v., so her "treatment" consisted of morphine being dripped down her throat in case she was feeling pain. No fluids, no nourishment.

When I was admitted to the medical center this past week, one of the questions asked was "do you have a living will?" uh, hmm, no.  This comes as an embarrassment to me as I used to lecture on preparing for death, and I had not done exactly what I was telling others to do.  Actually, I would not choose a living will but would opt for the more streamlined and easily downloadable Advance Care Plan, developed by the State of Tennessee.  Of course, it's free, as opposed to a living will I could purchase at costs starting at $40.  An additional benefit is that the Advance Care Plan does not require a notary, but it does require a witness who is not going to be making health care decisions.  

Before I blog again, I promise to have an advance care plan completed, signed and witnessed.

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