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No_big_whoop t1_j4v5ogx wrote

I read somewhere that physicians and their families routinely opt out of long shot treatment options as they near the end of their lives. Doctors know better than most people how futile and uncomfortable some of these desperate measures are.

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uhuhshesaid t1_j4w9hiy wrote

This is true. It’s something like 80% of the public wants “everything possible” done to sustain life.

80% of physicians (and likely most nurses from personal experience) want only noninvasive treatment measures to sustain life.

It’s why I’m a huge proponent of getting palliative care consults. It is focused on quality of life and has better outcomes in both disease remission and end of life care. It is wildly underutilized and underfunded as a resource.

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Mr_Mouthbreather t1_j4yzvmv wrote

My mom was a nurse for decades and is adamant I "pull the plug" if the time comes. She got all of the legal papers drawn up too. She's terrified of being put on some machine for any length of time.

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CampaignOk8351 t1_j4wstqu wrote

>and underfunded as a resource.

It's not really underfunded at all in USA but it is underutilized

If anything, I think it's going to get a nasty crackdown on reimbursement because as is, hospice care reimburses probably a lot more than the labor or medications can reasonably justify. It's using 150-year-old medications that cost pennies, administered by an RN

That's my prediction, but CMS is notoriously well-known to do the exact opposite of what needs to happen

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Dr_D-R-E t1_j4yz86p wrote

MD here

I’ve done CPR on enough people to know that’s the last way I want to spend my final moments in this world, naked in a room full of strangers, broken ribs, vomiting on myself and aspirating half of it back into my lungs so that I have like a 15% chance of recovering in extreme agony to be intubated and die shortly thereafter through the same process that eventually doesn’t work.

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New-Negotiation7234 t1_j4ymskv wrote

After working in health care I now have a very detailed living will and POA and everyone close to me knows my wishes. I have seen the horrors and torture families put their loved ones through. No thanks.

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justme_mb t1_j52kv63 wrote

My husband and I are just starting on this after losing my father recently with an advance directive that had I don't know checked for all the standard questions and without being notarized. It was useless and I'd like to be very clear and comprehensive in ours so no one has to decide anything, it will all be there.

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New-Negotiation7234 t1_j52m63z wrote

What I put in my living will is to have no artificial nutrition (tpn, tube feeding) if I am in a permanent altered mental status, dementia, or in a coma etc. The artificial nutrition is given wayyyy too often for no benefit to the person and it’s what keeps people alive. Also, once it is started it becomes VERY difficult for family members to take people off of it because they then feel like they are starving them and killing them. Not eating is a natural part of the death process.

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bexyrex t1_j512mt6 wrote

I worked in a nursing home for 6 months after college trying to find my career path( was trying to become a PA and needed healthcare experience and instead now I'm a therapist). But being near that much end of life or post injury rehab just taught me that I don't want life saving measures. If I'm dying let me go out peacefully and comfortably. I've had enough trauma and suffering for a life time.

But like if I get the kind of illness (dementias) where I will lose myself and my memories and have to relive my early life experiences.... I will literally not tell anyone and take myself out of the equation as peacefully as possible like the woman from an article I read who got end of life care delivered from Mexico and got to spend time with her family for a year before finally passing happy and safe.

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justme_mb t1_j52jy56 wrote

Would you be able to share the article info please, I may need this care in the not too distant future.

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justme_mb t1_j52kc5a wrote

>But like if I get the kind of illness (dementias) where I will lose myself and my memories and have to relive my early life experiences.... I will literally not tell anyone and take myself out of the equation as peacefully as possible like the woman from an article I read who got end of life care delivered from Mexico and got to spend time with her family for a year before finally passing happy and safe.<

Would you be able to share the article info please, in case this care in the not too distant future.

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