Reflection blog-End of Life

My reflection blog post this week is on the Chapter 16 reading. This chapter brought up a lot of emotions for me. It made feel sad for the loved ones I have lost and also contemplative about the "end-of-life" issues that we all have to eventually face. I think it is important that everyone have a living will or a healthcare directive in place, not just at old age. They can be revised and updated as much as needed for the changes in life. It is also important to have a Healthcare Power of Attorney to help make decisions for those who are not mentally compentent or how are unconscious. I remember the Terri Schiavo case. I think this is very difficult because on one hand, she was married and her husband was to be her primary caretaker. He felt that she wouldn't have wanted to live in a persistant vegatative state the rest of her life having someone else take care of her every need. Her parents, on the other hand, thought she may recover some of the brain damage she suffered when she was unconscious. I can see where a healthcare directive is so important in this case because of the vast difference between the beliefs of those close to her. I also think it is rather in humane to take away someone's feeding tube as a means of letting them die. I think it causes pain and suffering because a person can live for a while without food. I don't believe in euthanasia either. I think when it is someone's time to go, then God will make that call. I could not work for a doctor who performed this type of "death with dignity". I have had a lot of experience working with hospice in my time in healthcare and I really feel like they do such a great job. They are trying to give the terminally ill patient comfort and way to die in peace. The nurses and doctors who work for hospice have my utmost respect. I think most of us have experienced a death of a loved one in our lives and this chapter definitely brought up the memories of those deaths for me.