Dying and Living Wills, Part 2

Between 1900 and 2000 our life expectancy nearly doubled due to improved antibiotics and medical techniques. As we started the 21st century we were aware that molecular and cellular biology would allow for the future development of targeted and more effective medication and a greater understanding of disease.

The problem with all this ability is that just because we CAN do something doesn't mean we SHOULD do that particular thing. If a person's last days are spent prolonging their dying then we have accomplished nothing with our technology. Medicine is remarkable, but for all of our ability, we still die.

If you haven't thought lately about what your end of life wishes would be, then I suggest that you do. There are all sorts of living will forms available that you can fill out without the assistance of an attorney. Look them up on the net. Download them, print them out and fill in the blanks. Talk to your family and your health care providers about your wishes. This is important! Do it before someone has to make decisions for you because you can't speak for yourself. Don't put anyone in the position of having to make decisions about your end of life care without your guidance. It is a common theme among family members of people with heart disease who come to my Heart Disease message board at WebMD ; they ask, "why didn't my parent tell me what they wanted before this happened?"

Will it be hard to talk to your family? You bet it will. Don't be surprised if your kids don't want to talk about it or if it makes them angry. Give them the forms anyway, and tell them to come talk to you when they're ready. They will. When they do you'll have an opportunity to have one or more of those great talks that will very likely make you closer, resolve some of those old hard feelings, and put your last days at peace for everyone.

It will be worth the effort.

Laurie

Related Topics: End of Life Decisions, Heart Failure

Dying and Living Wills, Part 1

Have you stopped to think about how you'd like to die? If you haven't then maybe you should. I'm going to take you on a whirlwind tour of the history of medicine, because I want you to think about how "capable" we've become in medicine in less than 225 years, and yet how incapable we remain of beating back the inevitable, death. Ready?

Here goes...

• 1785: Digitalis is used for heart disease.


• 1796: Edward Jenner develops the first successful vaccination techniques for smallpox.


• 1816: Stethoscope invented.


• 1825: Joseph Lister first uses antiseptics on surgical instruments.


• 1818: First successful blood transfusion.


• 1860: Florence Nightingale implements the concept of hospital ward hygiene.


• 1871: Joseph Lister notices that some molds can weaken other microbes.


• 1895: Wilhelm Roentgen accidentally discovers X-rays (1st Nobel Prize winner in Physics 1901).


• 1899: Aspirin developed.


• 1920: Smallpox eradicated due to vaccination.


• 1922: Insulin discovered and used to treat diabetes.


• 1928: Alexander Flemming discovered penicillin.


• 1939: Flemming, Ernst Chain, and Howard Florey were assigned to find a cure for soldier's wound infections. They grow and isolate penicillin in large enough quantities to successfully treat infections in these wounds.


• 1953: Jonas Salk invents the polio vaccine.


• 1958: The "Bird" ventilator is introduced, CPR is invented.


• 1960: Inhalers invented for asthma; ventilators in common use in intensive care units; structure of DNA found.


• 1967: Argentinean cardiologist René Favaloro performed the first coronary artery bypass surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.


• 1972: First use of computer assisted tomography (CAT) scans.


• 1977: The first successful coronary artery angioplasty was performed by Andreas Gruentzig in Switzerland.


• 1978: First "test tube" baby born in England.


• 1982: First person is implanted with an artificial heart, the "Jarvik 7."


• 1983: The AIDS virus is identified.


• 1986: Jacques Puel and Ulrich Sigwart (France) inserted the first stent into a human coronary artery.


• 1994: The first Palmaz-Schatz coronary artery stent was approved for use in the United States.


• 2003: The Human Genome Project completes the map of DNA structure.

Stop for a moment to think about the remarkable nature of these accomplishments. Isn't it AMAZING? In 220 years of medical science we have learned that bacteria cause infections and can be cured with antibiotics, that sophisticated pictures can help us to look into the body, that we can restart a beating heart and ventilate a person not breathing on their own, and that we can surgically treat heart disease.

Still, death is inevitable. Stay tuned for Part 2....

Related Topics Heart Disease Treatment Advances, Stents, Heart Transplant

My first attempt at blogging

Do you remember that song (sung) by America?

"So I tried to make it Monday, but I got so darn depressed,
That I set my sights on Tuesday, and I got myself undressed.
I ain't ready..."

So here it is, Tuesday, and I'm trying again. Yesterday I wrote for HOURS working on a perfect First Blog. It was great! In it I answered the question, "Why don't you just go to medical school?" and told you all about why I'm a nurse practitioner, and about my grandma who pointed out my path in life when I was lost. Doesn't that sound great? I'll tell you, it was pretty darn good. So what happened?

Cyberspace happened, that's what. I'm still kicking myself, because I'm smart enough to know better! I never post directly on my Heart Disease Message Board at Web MD for just this reason, when you float that post out there sometimes it disappears. That's exactly what happened, I sent the post and got the message "page not found."

It was a good post. I even told you how I went to grad school instead of shooting doctors. Someday I'll write it again, I promise. It will probably be better than the First Blog. But you'll just have to stay tuned.

Go get 'em today, you can do it!

Laurie

Related Topics: Heart Disease, Baby Boomer Heart: User Guide