No, I'm not ignoring you. Lately, there has just been a confluence of other things demanding my attention and a dearth of real news to comment on with every dang news outlet going with the WTWS format (Wall to Wall Schiavo). For the record, I have come to the same conclusion ME has: I have no standing to have a stance on this particular issue. Strangely, though, it has made part of me want to delay making out a living will--something I have meant to do for quite some time--exactly because of this whole flap. I don't want anyone getting the impression that I am making out a living will because the media has called attention to it and suddenly so many people are rushing to make them out because It May Happen To Me. I would be doing it because I've meant to for about half a decade now and we would be folding it into several things we've been meaning to get a lawyer to do.
As much as I've tried to ignore all of the media coverage of this fracas, it's about as easy as completely avoiding environmental mercury contamination. Not going to happen. However, what has dribbled through has given me some ideas for my own eventual living will and instructions for my durable Power of Attorney. For what it is worth with whatever weight a blog entry may carry in these matters, my wishes on life support are as follows:
1. If my mind isn't coming back, even if my body still has a fighting chance, pull whatever plug I'm plugged into. If I can't have thoughts and communicate them, I'm just wasting space, and to the extent that I would be able to be frustrated in that state, I would probably find it incredibly frustrating.
2. If my care becomes burdensome, put something good in my IV drip and kill me, whatever my recovery prospects may be. Whether or not I would want to be kept alive is irrelevant to the process when I am no longer the one doing the keeping. I would rather just go and let everyone get on with their lives.
3. Don't put too much weight on what I would want. Living is for the living, and I want my caretakers to consider what is best for themselves. (Thanks to ME for those last two thoughts)
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