Read an article that as a retired nurse I for myself totally agree with and have seen this.It is in the July 2014 issue of Reader's Digest and is on page 54 title "How Doctors Die". It might be helpful to those of you that are at present having to deal with some difficult decisions. I know for myself I am not going to have "everything done" because as a nurse I know what that means. However, your average citizen who is not in the medical field has no idea what that means just like I wouldn't know how someone is an accountant etc, it isn't what I did for a living.People please talk to your loved ones before something happens, while things are calm and quiet about what they want done, it can save you a lot of family squabbling, guilt and grief, The article is brief but it is a good discussion starter.
I noticed that some oncologists share an attitude of doing as much as they can, "go for the gold" approach that I've also seen in litigators.
Instead of looking for an optimum solution, some litigators just want to sue. Instead of evaluating the quality of life of someone fighting cancer, some oncologists want to keep using medicine, chemo and sometimes radiation.
Others know when to say enough is enough. I'm sure it's a hard call to make, not to mention that it's a very difficult area of medicine in which to practice.
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http://www.rd.com/health/healthcare/how-doctors-choose-to-die/.
Be careful when you get to the site; just accidentally moving your cursor over parts the page mouse traps you into an ad mode.
This is an interesting issue. I can understand why doctors take a different approach to their own lives than they might with patients, but fortunately or unfortunately the care for the latter involves so much liability, as well as family wishes, that often their hands are tied.
I really do think that we need to view the dying process in a different light.
The same approach could apply to cancer treatment, which has frankly but accurately been characterized sometimes as "slash and burn." And it is brutal, almost tortuous.
My Dad keeps saying he wants to be buried in Iowa, and I think "well that narrows it down"... but I really do need more information.
These questions I had typed up and put in the notebook were ones I gathered from the book "Because You Can't Take it With You: How to Get Your Affairs in Order to Protect Yourself & Your Loved Ones" by Marguerite Smolen. I even gave my parents a copy of said book for Dad to read. I just hope Dad got past the first chapter.
I also gave a similar notebook to my significant other for him to fill out, and I have my own notebook, too.