Writing A Will

Writing A Will

Writing A Will

My grandmother was diagnosed right after the New Year with esophagus cancer. After several months of doctors debating amongst themselves, they decided that because of her age and severity, she should not undergo surgery as a first option. Her 80 years of life had made her incredibly stubborn and she wanted surgery. The idea of the tumor growing inside of her made her very upset and she wanted to be able to eat again. They made her very aware of the severe risks involved. She prepared a living will before her surgery and gave her three daughters a copy of it. Her surgeon had a copy as well.

Her surgery went very well at first, but after several days, her condition went downhill. Within 3 days, she was in a coma and the outlook for her waking up was very bleak. They rushed her into emergency surgery to fix an internal bleeding problem and her heart stopped on the table. They revived her after 60 seconds. The doctors were concerned about brain damage from those fatal 60 seconds. Her daughters were hysterical when they were told that their mother had technically died on the operating table but was brought back. The fact is that her living will specifically stated that was against her wishes. Apparently the operating staff was not aware of that.

She had told her family that her living will was because she had lived a wonderful life and did not want to be kept alive by machines. She said that when it was her time, she was ready to go. I hated hearing her say that, but I respected her wishes. In fact, I can say the same for my own self. The doctors had not only gone against her living will and revived her, but they continued to go against her wishes. Machinery was breathing for her as her body was not capable. I'm not sure what was more sad, seeing her like that or knowing that she would be irate if she knew that her living will was not being honored. Her daughters talked to the nurses and doctors. To our shock, there was no copy of her living will in her patient file. In fact, when my mother mentioned it to a nurse, the nurse actually asked her for a copy of it. The entire family was appalled that somehow this very reputable and popular hospital had managed to make such a disrespectful mistake.

According to the U.S. Living Will Registry, a living will is defined as a legal document in which you state the kind of health care you want or don't want under certain circumstances. My grandmother's living will was very specific in what she did and did not want. Unfortunately, her life was prolonged because of a mistake. Granted, we were not ready to let my grandmother slip away from this life, but we were not happy with knowing that she would be horrified to see herself deteriorating in such a manner. Afterall, what was the purpose in having her create a living will if the hospital was not going to honor it? I feel that having a living will is a wonderful thing. You can also choose to also donate organs should your living will need to be honored. What a wonderful final parting gift you can give to the world if you choose to help someone else live!