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[bobf <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

She has legal rights as a hpspital patient.  There are a set of prime 
directives that she, as the patient, or her medical power of attorney, as her 
representative, can implenment.

Hospitals will almost always ask for them upon the beginning of every 
hospitilization -- if for no other reason than that people do, sometimes, 
change their minds about such things.  

My MIL not only had the more common DNR, she also had addendae to inclue such 
things as no artificial feeding; no additional invasive procedures, etc . Her 
directives were very explicit, for shw was a retired RN, and knew the lenghts 
some doctors and hospitals will go to keep a body leagally alive, even with 
the patient suffering , miserable, and desiring to let go; But, she was also 
Roman Catholic; she could not artificially hasten her own death.

  So her directives were explicit.  Stilll, there was a time when we had to 
met with the hospital admistrator and her doctor (as my wife was her medical 
power of attorney) and go over exactly what medical staff could and could not 
do, as she faded away.  My wife is a medical professional and it was still 
not easy for her; but she insisted that thery follow her mother's wishes to 
the letter.

She had excellent pallative care, in the end.  That is all that her 
directives allowed.  She was not in pain; she did not suffer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------


--- On Wed, 1/21/09, Lynn Wigglesworth <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com> wrote:

> From: Lynn Wigglesworth <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Homestead] Anti-hospital Rant
> To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 6:31 AM
> > Lynn, 'just curious because I've been through
> this.  Has your mother given 
> > written directives?  Do you and the hospital have the
> paperwork?
> >
> 
> Like a Living Will? That's another source of annoyance
> with me. She has all 
> the paperwork, and we had to give copies to the hospital
> when she was 
> admitted in October for her masectomy. Now they want me to
> submit it all 
> again because they can't find it. Geez; didn't they
> ever hear of filing 
> cabinets, in alphabetical order? I don't think medical
> tracking is going to 
> be a privacy concern, if this hospital is any indication.
> They couldn't find 
> their butt with both hands, let alone track information on
> a patient.
> 
> > I am happy for you that the surgery is done, and I
> wish you all the best.
> >
> Thanks; I have to call and find out when they are
> transferring her to the 
> rehab center, then I'll go visit and get her settled
> in.
> 
> Lynn Wigglesworth
> Tioga Co. PA 
> 
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