Posted by so on June 4, 2005, at 10:12:07
In reply to how to help my Mom help herself?, posted by JenStar on June 2, 2005, at 10:42:42
As an older person whose life might be extended if I accepted care for certain health conditions, I can offer that my choices are mine to make. If my children or anyone else is so concerned about loosing me they would like me to make another choice, and if I don't choose to concur with their preferences, that is not my problem. If the life I have shared with them so far is not adequate, what reason do I have to believe living longer under their conditions would satisfy them any more? It is up to them to offer me some compelling reason to subject myself to hospitals, surgery, aftercare, informed consent documents that disclose risks phsyicians failed to mention during lengthy and costly consultations, and for that matter, the pain of living a long life in an ailing body. Interventions would likely result in my calling law enforcement and seeking court protection to keep them away from me. If they refuse to visit me and respect my opinions about how I want to live my life and when and how I choose to face death, then I would need to consider whether they are really all that eager to have me alive anyway, or whether they just want me alive under their terms and their conditions.
poster:so
thread:506865
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20050603/msgs/507583.html