- Wish 1: Who do you want to make health care decisions for you when you can’t. . .
- Wish 2: What type of medical treatment do you want or don’t want. . .
- Wish 3: How comfortable do you want to be. . .
- Wish 4: How do you want people to treat you. . .
- Wish 5: What do you want your loved ones to know. . .
These wishes can be written in a document called an Advance Health Directive, also known as a Living Will, a Personal Directive, a Medical Directive or an Advance Decision.
This legal document specifies what actions should be taken regarding your health if you are no longer able to make decisions for yourself because of illness or incapacity.
You give instructions to your family and physicians on whether you wish to be medically treated if you are ever in a physical condition in which there is no hope of recovering. It allows you to control decisions relating to your own medical care, including the decision to have life-sustaining procedures withheld or withdrawn in a situation in which you might be diagnosed as having a terminal and irreversible condition.
The law is very specific as to the form and contents required of a valid advance directive or living will.
I can help you to consult with an attorney to ensure that your living will is proper. Whether you should have a living will is a very personal decision and you may wish to discuss this decision with your physician and of course with an attorney.
