I recently lost my sister whose life care proxy specified on it how she wouldn't want to "live" on life support. The problem is that after just a few weeks in the hospital recovering from an infection, she was not waking up consistently. She did in fact wake up after the first week...
I recently lost my sister whose life care proxy specified on it how she wouldn't want to "live" on life support. The problem is that after just a few weeks in the hospital recovering from an infection, she was not waking up consistently. She did in fact wake up after the first week and the family had hoped she would recover. She was on all sorts of meds and as far as I know didn't lose any oxygen to her brain. She was having seizures and the drs assumed she had brain damage. She was discharged from the hospital by her health care proxy (non relative*) to hospice and died the following day. My sister had MS and although I believe in her end of life miracles she provided to us that day, and that I tried every effort to let her know she could wake up, I believe she chose to leave this life. However, I cannot reconcile the definition of the time frame of "living" on life support as most proxies or living wills use. When someone had an accident or illness...how long do we allow for recovery as opposed to sustaining life??? This is a BIG issue, but I believe the The Doctors can accurately present both sides of this important issue, the miracles vs. the realities, and STRESS the importance of specifics in ones health care directives.