Are you one of those people who love horror movies and also one of the millions of people who have yet to complete your advance directives? If so, I have the solution! Just watch the short video called “Is THIS How You Want to Die?” (https://zdoggmd.com/end-of-life/).
I promise this will both scare and motivate you. As an emergency doctor, Dr. Zubin Damania (aka ZDoggMD) tells it like it is — what really happens when a patient shows up without a living will in the hospital emergency room.
It’s not pretty. In fact, it’s downright terrifying. If you need motivation, this is it. Not having advance directives requires doctors to follow hospital protocol and procedures that Dr. Damania says “forces them to torture people until they die.”
According to Trevor Bibler, Ph.D., a professor at Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, 25 percent of elderly people die in the intensive care unit. Without a living will, Bibler said, “the assumption is to move forward with the most aggressive path. Doctor’s hands are often tied, and we are obligated to try and save the patient’s life, even if such attempts are futile.”
With the U.S. spending about $205 billion annually on medical treatment given to patients in the final year of life, much of it unwanted and ineffective, there is a continued emphasis on the importance of advance directives. As we look for ways to save money and preserve Medicare and Medicaid, advance directives are one important aspect that could save millions. Think of it as your personal contribution to lowering the national debt!
In case you don’t know, a health care proxy form designates another person to make medical decisions should you be unable to do so, and a living will allows you to list medical treatments that you would or would not want if you became terminally ill and unable to make your own decisions. These documents give you the opportunity to clearly state your values and wishes for your own end-of-life care before a medical crisis occurs.
There is a big difference between “do everything to save me,” and choosing ahead of time what you do and do not want medically. Don’t make your family guess.
So why have only one-third of all Americans completed living wills and health care proxy forms? Americans overwhelming say they’d prefer to go home to die, living their final days without complicated medical treatment. So why the disconnect? Psychologists say it can be the fear of facing our own mortality, illness or simply the unknown.
For many, it is the proverbial procrastination theory: If I stick my head in the ground, ignore and procrastinate, nothing will happen to me. Think again! Not having these documents might be cause for genuine fear. Look at the real-life consequences for both you, your family and ER hospital staff, as Dr. Dumania’s video clearly shows.
April 16 is National Health Care Decision Day. You can sign up for a free advance directive workshop at the Gainesville Senior Center, 5701 NW 34th Blvd., on Friday, April 5, from 2 to 4 p.m. There will be one-on-one assistance with everything you need to complete or update your documents including plenty of knowledgeable people to answer your questions or witness your directives.
For more information about this workshop contact the Gainesville Senior Center at 352-265-9040 or email the workshop organizer, Shirley Bloodworth, to register at sgblood@bellsouth.net.
Take time to educate yourself and come to your own conclusions about what you want for yourself at the end of your life. Have meaningful real conversations (check out www.theconversationproject.org) with your proxy, other loved one, and your doctor about what matters to you at the end of life. Make sure your documents are up to date and give them to your family, physicians and hospital.
By the way, last time I looked, there was no box you could check that said, “I want to die in my sleep, not the ICU.” Attend the free workshop on April 5 at the Senior Center and please, get these forms done!