Let’s say you’re really old. Or you’re really ill. And you want to discuss end-of-life care with your doctor.
What do you do?
Make an appointment? Phone and ask to speak to your physician? (Good luck…)
Wing it, without a doctor’s help or advice?
Well Section 1233 of the new proposed health care bill drafted by the House of [...]
Dear Judy,
I’m getting ready to undergo an angiogram — and I’m scared.
I ave been diagnosed with a blockage in the left side of my heart. I have three children and no will. I know it will cost me a couple of thousand dollars to have an attorney draw up a will.
But I will need that [...]
Dear Readers,
For months I’ve been arguing that A) everyone needs a “Living Will.” And B) no one needs a lawyer to write that Living Will.
But Marc Levine, a brilliant Maryland attorney, begs to differ. And maybe he’s right. After all, the most important thing a Living Will can do is ensure its own implementation. That’s [...]
Dear Readers,
Every once in a while a great book comes along, and I’d like to make note of its most vital points. Jane Brody, the New York Times columnist, has just brought out her “Guide to the Great Beyond.” I can’t recommend it enough!
One of the best passages concerns Living Wills — those documents that [...]
“My sister was 45, when I told her she had Alzheimer’s,” Vaughn James, author of the “The Alzheimer’s Advisor,” recalls. James, a law professor at Texas Tech, subtitles his new book “A Caregiver’s Guide to Dealing with Tough Legal and Practical Issues,” and those in fact are his focus.
They should also be your focus, [...]
Dear Judy,
My friend was a dynamic 86-year-old who had all the tools in place for a peaceful end. He had a health care proxy, a Living Will and a loving family who supported his wish for just palliative care. In other words: he wanted no life-prolonging measures after cancer invaded his bones.
He was so [...]
Many years ago — I think I was around 25 and, if we disregard my idiotic Marlboro pack-a-day smoking habit, very healthy — my mother shocked me with a single question:
“How do you want to be buried?”
I remember looking at her, slack-jawed. In the first place, I thought this hardly the question for [...]
Dear Judy,
My mother is dying slowly. She has congestive heart failure, which happens these days on a weekly basis — and each time, a bit more of her brain dies. She is at home now with a full-time care-giver.
I am tempted to use hospice care — but does that mean she cannot be taken [...]
I can’t stress this strongly enough: Whenever you are about to discuss bad news with medical personnel, make certain you have someone along with you — someone rational who comes equipped with a notepad and an excellent memory. Don’t leave home without this person.
Why? Because however intelligent you are, however stoic and philosophical, [...]
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Posted on January 24th, 2009