Do Not Resussitate!

Are those your instructions?

Your parents?

Your grandparents?

Interesting question Rosie,

After working in a critical care area of the hospital for a couple years now I have considered this question myself, even with no major health problems and still in my early thirties. To me the question is not so much a DNR but what medical treatments would you want to endure? How many months on machines could you take or want to take? I've seen people who I never would have imagine would walk out of the hospital do amazing and people who come in for a pretty routine procedure leave out the back doors. Resuscitation as in CPR and shocking you isn't all that bad to endure from an outsiders view, but personally I would not want to live on a ventilator the rest or my life nor dialysis on a everyday or couple day basis as those affect quality of life, simply being shocked or CPR isn't something you have to live with the rest of your life.

But at a minimum, tell your family your wishes because when you're sedated or a tube is down your throat its your family that will be making the decisions.

DNR are not my instructions, but if I was at the end of my wits with living on the machines it certainly would be

I watched my Mom being kept alive on machines, it was so hard. After a week we took her off and said goodbye...hardest decision ever.

I saw a bit of a story on TV last night about a guy that the doctors say is brain dead. They want to disconnect him but his family says no.

It is now before the courts, with the doctors losing the first round.

Bottom line:
A video of the brain dead man responding to his daughter's requests to move fingers clearly shows his condition is improving.

Had the family agreed to the doctors' wishes, he'd be dead.

Seems the doctors are wrong here.

I saw that same program.

years ago my father-in-law had a massive heart attack and there was no chance of recovery. The family had instructions to let nature take its course. To the horrow of one daughter-in-law, a nurse, he was being kept alive on a ventilator, against the family's wishes. No other person realized what was happening. Life support was rmoved and he quietly passed a few hours later.

JTF wrote:I saw a bit of a story on TV last night about a guy that the doctors say is brain dead. They want to disconnect him but his family says no.

It is now before the courts, with the doctors losing the first round.

Bottom line:
A video of the brain dead man responding to his daughter's requests to move fingers clearly shows his condition is improving.

Had the family agreed to the doctors' wishes, he'd be dead.

Seems the doctors are wrong here.

There's actually a lot of misunderstanding about what the term brain DEAD actually means. Used here it is inappropriate. Brain death testing means there is no sign of any brain activity, no breathing on your own even, no brain reflexes at all, not even blinking. What you are describing the term is vegetative state or something similar. Brain death testing is quite rigorous and definite and certain. Most people don't understand that because of how often the term is used incorrectly.

Me, I've seen doctors be wrong about whether a person will wake up or "get better", but I have definite ideas about what I am willing to take. Nobody has a crystal ball. Some degrees of "getting better" are still not acceptable to me for my own body and mind, and I try to tell my family that. Lots of people are "DNR" as in no CPR if their heart stops, but they still get to some pretty awful states without the heart actually stopping. End of life care is so much more complicated than CPR vs no-CPR.

Yup. They said all his movements were involuntary and he was a veggie. Moving one or two fingers upon request proves them wrong.

Now I know what is the matter with me! I have gone from a vegetative state to being brain dead! So disconcerting!

darkwind wrote:End of life care is so much more complicated than CPR vs no-CPR.

Bingo

For me, a DNR would be a exit from a bad situation, not the thing itself to be avoided.

Without sounding to crass, when I'm alive only by technicality, its time to let me go.

When I all of cant eat, cant drink, cant wash myself, cant carry out my own toileting, when my body cant remove its own toxins and am completely dependant and not leaving the hospital bed ever again, thats when its ok to let me go. But its different for everyone, some would say I want to be alive no matter what, and thats ok, thats absolutely their choice and completely legit.

And to me, moving one or two fingers is not a life i want to live

I'm in my early thirties and have really little kids. I am not DNR at this time. My parents are not DNR at this time, but in the instance of terminal illness, advanced age they would elect to become DNR. My grandmother is DNR, which makes sense for the very elderly -no sense doing heroics and coding a very ill, frail, 85+ year old lady, you know?

Sourpuss wrote:no sense doing heroics and coding a very ill, frail, 85+ year old lady, you know?

Happens all the time, i've done compressions on 80+ multiple times.

And thirty year olds get major complications too (cardiac, brain, respiratory issues etc). Never too early to think about and discuss your wishes with loved ones.

They won't let me set the type of DNR I want...but needless to say, if I'm diagnosed as becoming a burden to my family...don't bother.

Unfortunately, they won't let a doctor declare you "dead", unless you actually die.

But given a choice, if I was comatose, or "vegetable" state...I'd want someone to declare me dead, so my family can move on...collect whatever insurance might be due...and then place what's left of my body in the hands of the state, or some research institution. I'm allowed to donate my organs for transplant...but I'd want to donate my body to research...so that test can be done with my full consent to treat whatever put me in that state to begin with...so that hopefully someone else can be saved at a future time from what is learned.

Can I have you. I'd like to bone up on my embalming skills as it's been a long, long time.

I was going to say now u can be mummified saw it on discorery

JTF- I think that you and I should get to a bar to try some embalming together!