Legally Speaking by Cassandra Savoy, Esq. OP/ED
I recently met a woman whose husband died after thirty-five years of marriage. They had no children, she has no siblings, and she is experiencing some health challenges. “What happens if I get sick,” she asked?
The time to think about next is before you “next” happens. Whether or not you are in your sixties or experiencing health challenges, one of the things adults need to worry about is, what happens if you are in a serious car accident which leaves you unconscious? In a coma? Otherwise incapacitated?
You need two documents to be in place: A Medical Power of Attorney and a Durable Power of Attorney to address your business affairs. Let’s talk about why you might want to have a Medical Power of Attorney in place if you get sick.
A Medical Power of Attorney
A medical power of attorney tells your loved ones and your medical providers precisely what kind of treatment you want or don’t want in the event you are incapable of telling them yourself, because, for example, you are in a coma or unconscious. There is really only one decision to be made which is based on your personal philosophy of life. If you believe that life is precious and should be maintained as long as possible, and at all cost, then you want to prolonged life as long as possible using every medical procedure known to mankind to sustain life. Or, do you believe that life is precious, but it is the quality of life that is precious.
If you hold to the second theory, you will want to limit the artificial means available to maintain life. For example, if your heart stops, do you want cardiac resuscitation? You have probably watched the medical shows like “ER” or “House” and heard about “DNR” order being in place. This means that the patient has decided that if her heart stops the doctors are instructed: DO NOT RESUSUTATE!
Do you want to be put on a ventilator if you are unable to breathe on your own? Do you want to receive nutrition through a feeding tube if you can’t eat because you are in a coma or unconscious? Do you want pain medication so that you are comfortable while other treatments are withdrawn? Do you want to receive antibiotics? Do you want to be hydrated to keep you comfortable? Do you want to receive hemodialysis to remove toxins from the body while you are unconscious? Pretty morbid, but it’s your life and who better to decide how you want to end it than you?
The way the Medical Power of Attorney works is that you find at least one person you trust (with your life) to be your representative in the event you become unconscious or comatose. You empower your representative to convey your wishes to medical providers. By the way, people often name not just one representative, but they more often than not, they name an alternate representative or two. You can’t just tell lady next door what you want to happen in the event of the worst happens to you.
Doctors and Hospitals require that your decision be in writing and in a form that they can trust. That means you can’t write a medical power of attorney on a napkin and expect the doctors to accept A) that you actually wrote the document, or B) that it is really what you want to happen.
Once in the correct form, people often leave copies with each of their representatives; leave a copy at each of their medical providers, and if they anticipate a hospital stay, they provide a copy to the hospital at admission. It’s also a good idea to keep a copy nearby, maybe in a nightstand by the bed. It does you no good to go through all of the difficult thought to decide what you want; find a trustworthy representative or two to convey your wishes; and, draft the document only to keep it in a safety deposit box at the bank.
Remember, you won’t need the Medical Power of Attorney unless you are unconscious at which time you will not be headed to the bank to grab the document. Moreover, your representative will likely not be allowed to enter your safe deposit box to get it. So, keep it out and available.
Oops! I’ve had a change of heart! No worries. For so long as you are of sound and disposing mind, you can make changes to the Medical Power of Attorney. You can change your representatives. You can decide that you want some treatments, and not others. You can make changes. But remember, if you change something, you will need to destroy ALL copies of the first version; collect all of the copies from all of the people and places where you left them and make sure they have the new, updated version.
What happens if I get really sick? Think about it!
