I'm not sure I'll be able to get through this but I'm going to try: End of Life

[Raven]

experiences first hand.

My father left the house on a Friday in 1999 for a routine medical procedure. At the door, he blew a kiss to my mother. He was dead 36 hours later. He was 88 and in good health for his age. He threw a clot which went to his brain. One organ after another began to fail. They tried everything. At 3 in the morning on Sunday the Hospital called and said that me and my brother better come in. His heart had stopped and they had got it going again. My Dad was hooked up to 5 machines. They were doing everything for him. He was dead...being kept alive only by these machines. We watched the machines and then told the Doctor to let him go. He had no living will, we had no opportunity to have a consult with the Doctor. We made the decision because if we hadn't. the machines would have taken over indefinately...I think we did the right thing but I wish we had been able to talk to my Dad and his Doctor about his wishes well before this crisis.

My Mother had an abdominal blood clot 5 years later. No living will there either. They operated but she never came out of a coma. When I got there she was also was on a multitude of machines. This time we were able to sit with the doctors. There was no hope for her and my brother and I again made the gut wrenching decision that no child wants to make. The doctor told me that many families have a very ahrd time with this because no one has discussed the end of live before the end of life comes. The hospitals, with the technology they have, can keep people alive indefinitely.

In the case of both of my parents, I can still see the scene vividly today and I remeber every moment. I think my brother and I did the right thing but it would have been so much better if there had been that end of life conversation that the health care bill encourages (not mandates) and provides payment for AND encourages Doctors to participate in which they now are so reluctant to do. If there had been that conversation, I would have a little more peace today that I did the right thing by my beloved parents. I would not have felt so alone.

How can anyone with a decent human bone in their body distort the intent of this provision in the health care bill? How, and sleep at night?