OOoops!!!

WHAT IF I change my mind? Maybe there is a new cure out there for me? Or maybe it's the reverse, maybe I'm ready to go... Or maybe I just want some changes made in my future care.

WHAT IF I change my health care designate, or my spouse dies and I need to name someone else...

It is very simple really.

I get my Living Will/Health Care Proxy out and write REVOKE or CANCEL across the front of it. And then I let someone, preferably my designate/family/physician/lawyer, know. And then I write another one with my latest wishes! I make sure to date it (proving that it is the most recent), I make sure to have it witnessed, and I make sure my designate and family know that I've made some changes.  And get a copy to those that are in need of that information.

End of Life Counseling

End of Life Counseling: Why It Really Matters

An article in AARP magazine. (Click on the above link to read the entire article, and comments).

The proposal

...House bill HR 3200—the American Affordable Health Choices Act—seemed to take on a life of its own amid charges that the government was creating “death panels” to euthanize the elderly. Angry protesters flocked to town hall meetings where they vented their rage at members of Congress.

What the proposal would actually do is allow physicians to bill Medicare for discussing with their patients what kind of end-of-life care they would want in the event there was little chance of recovery and they were unable to decide for themselves. Would they merely want pain control or expect the doctors to try every available treatment?

Such discussions would not be mandatory, but could help patients to articulate their wishes in a living will and designate a health proxy—usually a spouse or adult child—to carry out their wishes.