The Problem with Living Wills
"I don't have a crystal ball. How will I know what to decide?"
Many times, people find themselves wondering: "How the heck would I know what I would want?" This question forms the core of what many people already know intuitively: Advance directives are really "best guesses." And "best guesses" can, at times, become unintentionally solidified into bad medical decisions.
The truth is that very few of us will ever be able to anticipate with even minimal accuracy how we MIGHT feel in a certain unforeseen future medical situation, and what treatment we MIGHT or MIGHT NOT want in such an unforeseen circumstance. The truth of the matter is that Living Wills, Advanced Directives, and POLST forms can't possibly have all the necessary data to make the best decisions for every unforeseen future circumstance.
What if I were only temporarily disabled by injury or illness? And what if, given time and rehabilitation, it might be possible for me to recover most, if not all of my previous abilities? What if my doctor, spouse, or loved ones were hamstrung in decision-making by an out-of-date Living Will document I'd executed some years before? Wouldn't it be better for a spouse or family member whom I love, and who loves me, to confer with my doctor and other family members, in order to then make the correct decision for the correct circumstance?
Maybe in the future, I would indeed wish to have such treatment - to have more time with family or loved ones - to love them and be loved by them. Or, in the future, when I have a serious or life threatening illness, and my condition had become terminal, perhaps I would say:
"Do all things natural. Care for me - give me food and water as long as my body is able to process it. Provide me with warmth, shelter, love, and companionship. By all means, do not do anything that would cause me to die before my time. But when my time is up - when my body is dying naturally, please let me go. Know that I love you, hold my hand, stay with me, but when the time comes, please don't hold me back. Let me go..."
2006 Eileen T. Geller. Updated 2009.
Please see our important disclaimer.