Living Wills are becoming as popular as an Estate Will today.  The question remains who decides our fate.  It is up to us, the individual, to make this decision before the problem arises.  Maybe we should just leave it in the hands of God. 

Maybe it is my imagination, but to me it seems like one of the first things that happens after you get settled in your hospital bed is a nice, well-dressed hospital employee will come by and ask you in a very caring way, “how are you feeling today?”   Chances are you will be thinking well I am in the hospital, how should I be feeling?  After you are asked a couple of caring questions then the well-dressed hospital employee will caringly

ask, “Do you have a Living Will?”

 

WHY IS THIS SUCH AN IMPORTANT ISSUE

Life Support is used in many situations on individuals of all ages.  But the big question seems to be who has the right to say when a life is over?  All the research that I have found on Living Wills had one thing in common, the articles all stated that many times that the Living Will is misinterpreted.

Patients who are not terminally ill die in hospitals every year because of medical

staff... More misinterpretations of living wills. These are patients who would have otherwise lived if treated. But, too often, patients with living wills are treated as DNR--a code status understood by physicians and staff to mean "do not resuscitate." However, in many cases their status should have been "Full Code," which tells those in authority to use aggressive efforts to save patients' lives. Unfortunately, living wills do not contain patient code status designations and therein lies the problems.