Recent weeks offered a study in contrast.
First, there was the legal battle over Terri Schiavo's right to die. Mrs. Schiavo was the brain-damaged Florida woman who was kept artificially alive for years until the courts reinforced hers and her husband's decision not to be kept alive in a vegetative state.
That was an example of how difficult end-of-life decisions usually are.
Pope John Paul II passed away this week, on his own terms - in his apartment overlooking St. Peter's square, consciously refusing to be admitted to a hospital, and to be on a ventilator and other life-supporting devices.
He probably had made this decision years ago and he passed away today with dignity. As Rev. Billy Graham said on CNN's "Larry King Live": "I think he touched almost everybody in the whole world ... He taught us how to suffer, and, I think, in recent days, he's taught us how to die."
How To Prepare an Advanced Directive
The U.S. Living Will Registry.com has very useful links to resources about preparing a living will, or even better, an advanced directive in different states.
Click here to download Ohio's Living Will and Health Care Power of Attorney forms.
Related Video
Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Sung to Rockstar by Nickelback
References:
Timeline of Pope John Paul II life - NPR.
Pope John Paul II Dies, Leaving Vital Legacy - NPR.
Pope John Paul II in Wikipedia.
Pope John Paul II Obituary in NYTimes 4/05.
Illness as media spectacle. Did the display of the pope's suffering go too far? - BMJ 4/05.
Terri Schiavo in Wikipedia.
Autopsy: Schiavo's brain half the normal size. Autopsy finds no sign of trauma - CNN 6/05.
American Attitudes Toward the End of Life - NPR.
Advance Directives and DNR Orders - Family Doctor.org.
Sample Advance Directive Form - AFP 02/99.
The Guardian: A sombre series of portraits taken of people before and after they had died is a challenging and poignant study, 03/2008.
"Life has a 0% survival rate" http://goo.gl/dWmq - Another post by Dr. Rob that should be required reading whether you agree with it or not.
First, there was the legal battle over Terri Schiavo's right to die. Mrs. Schiavo was the brain-damaged Florida woman who was kept artificially alive for years until the courts reinforced hers and her husband's decision not to be kept alive in a vegetative state.
That was an example of how difficult end-of-life decisions usually are.
Pope John Paul II passed away this week, on his own terms - in his apartment overlooking St. Peter's square, consciously refusing to be admitted to a hospital, and to be on a ventilator and other life-supporting devices.
He probably had made this decision years ago and he passed away today with dignity. As Rev. Billy Graham said on CNN's "Larry King Live": "I think he touched almost everybody in the whole world ... He taught us how to suffer, and, I think, in recent days, he's taught us how to die."
How To Prepare an Advanced Directive
The U.S. Living Will Registry.com has very useful links to resources about preparing a living will, or even better, an advanced directive in different states.
Click here to download Ohio's Living Will and Health Care Power of Attorney forms.
Related Video
Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Sung to Rockstar by Nickelback
References:
Timeline of Pope John Paul II life - NPR.
Pope John Paul II Dies, Leaving Vital Legacy - NPR.
Pope John Paul II in Wikipedia.
Pope John Paul II Obituary in NYTimes 4/05.
Illness as media spectacle. Did the display of the pope's suffering go too far? - BMJ 4/05.
Terri Schiavo in Wikipedia.
Autopsy: Schiavo's brain half the normal size. Autopsy finds no sign of trauma - CNN 6/05.
American Attitudes Toward the End of Life - NPR.
Advance Directives and DNR Orders - Family Doctor.org.
Sample Advance Directive Form - AFP 02/99.
The Guardian: A sombre series of portraits taken of people before and after they had died is a challenging and poignant study, 03/2008.
"Life has a 0% survival rate" http://goo.gl/dWmq - Another post by Dr. Rob that should be required reading whether you agree with it or not.
WJM, Volume 163(3); September 1995. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/issues/124736
A Son's Photo Journal of His Aging Father's Decline - Photo Essays - TIME http://goo.gl/RVCt
The Lancet calls end-of-life care "the neglected core business of medicine" http://goo.gl/VtgeA
A Son's Photo Journal of His Aging Father's Decline - Photo Essays - TIME http://goo.gl/RVCt
The Lancet calls end-of-life care "the neglected core business of medicine" http://goo.gl/VtgeA