Advance Directives
Advance Directives are your written wishes about what you want to happen, if you get too sick to be able to say.
Living Will or Advance Care Plan
Machines and medicine can keep people alive when they otherwise might die. Doctors used to decide how long someone should be kept alive. Under the Tennessee Right to Natural Death Act, you can make your own choice. You can decide if you want to be kept alive by machines and for how long by filling out a Living Will. In 2004, Tennessee law changed the Living Will to Advance Care Plan. Either one is ok to use. A Living Will or Advance Care Plan needs to be filled out while you can still think for yourself. These papers tell your friends and family what you want to happen to you, if you get too sick to be able to say.
Living wills are not just for people near the end of their life. Remember Terry Schiavo; she was a 26 year old woman that had a cardiac arrest that resulted in a persistent vegetative state. After many months, her husband stated that Terry would not want her life prolonged under the circumstances using artificial nutrition. Terry’s parents disagreed, and 15 years and 14 appeals later, her feeding tube was removed. During this time, she was featured daily on mainstream media for months, particularly on the 24 hour news channels. The take home message: if Terry Schiavo had had a living will, we never would have heard about her. It would have said “yes I want it,” or “no I don’t want it,” but there would have been clear instructions to her family what to do in this situation. So if a 26 year old otherwise healthy person needed a living will, every adult who is reading this needs a living will as well. 😉
Enclosed you can download the TN Living will that is extremely precise and broad in its spectrum. Your state likely has statutes defining what a legal living will is, so check with your state or PCP; these are medical documents, and should be discussed and filled out with your health care provider.
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