A Living Will - Make Decisions About Your Life

A Living Will is a very important document but it is often surrounded by controversy. In the simplest terms, a Living Will (also called an advance directive) gives you the opportunity to decide while you are healthy and able exactly what end-of-life care you desire.

In August of 2009 amid the health care reform debate, the Department of Veteran's Affairs came under fire for its pamphlet Your Life, Your Choices. In a Wall Street Journalopinion piece, Jim Towey - author of Five Wishes - lambasted the DVA's decision to reinstate usage of Your Life, Your Choices. In his article, Towey mentioned several "guilt-inducing scenarios" listed on page 21 of the guide including:

"I can no longer contribute to my family's well being," "I am a severe financial burden on my family" and that the vet's situation "causes severe emotional burden for my family."

What Towey did NOT mention are other scenarios including "I rely on a feeding tube to keep me alive" and "I rely on a breathing tube to keep me alive". There are eighteen situations in all, with room for an "other" along with grading each situation from "Difficult but manageable" to "NOT worth living". Towey also didn't mention that the questions in the VA pamphlet are almost identical to the question in the American Bar Association's online Tool Kit for Health Care Advance Planning.

Having notarized Grampa's Living Will and having to repeat his words to the rest of my family seven months later, I know the importance of having a Living Will.

A Living Will Eases the Burden on Your Family
When I went to the hospital to notarize Grampa's Living Will, we chatted. He was feeling OK but he had been hospitalized several times over the previous few years. While we were talking, Grampa said "I don't want no damn machines." The nursing supervisor witnessed his signature and I visited for awhile longer. When I left and was far enough away from his room, I slid down the wall and sobbed. I was almost 30 but was not ready for the emotional impact of believing that Grampa could die.

Seven months later, Grampa was hospitalized for the final time. The next day, the family gathered at my aunt's house and I had to tell them what he had said. Everyone knew about the Living Will and it was taken to the hospital later. He died with peace and dignity less than 72 hours after he was admitted.

A Living Will Preserves End of Life Dignity
I want my grown children to be comfortable with my decision. Since it's against the law for anyone to put a bullet in my head if I'm unable to do it myself, my Living Will is the best option.

I cannot imagine a life in which my brain does not function. I would be unhappy without the use of my limbs but could deal with it as long as I can find a way to communicate with my loved ones.

Terri Schiavo's parents forced her to remain alive in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years because they couldn't let go. If she would have only written down her wishes (instead of just telling her husband), she would not have been an unwilling participant in the legal circus that resulted.

A Living Will Takes Care of the Unexpected
A debilitating illness or injury can happen with no notice. Nancy Cruzan was 25 years old when she was injured in a car crash in January 1983. She became a ward of the State of Missouri as she remained in a persistent vegetative state through legal battles including the United States Supreme Court.

While Cruzan, like Schiavo, was able to breathe on her own she was effectively kept alive by a feeding tube. Her parents finally won the right to remove the tube on December 14, 1990. She died 12 days later.

Sources: Wall Street Journal ; Aging with Dignity ; Your Life, Your Choices ; American Bar Association
New England Journal of Medicine

Courts and the End of Life - Nancy Cruzan