Ensuring choices for life
“I didn’t want to make my family have to think ‘do we leave her switched on; do we turn it off?”
While it can be a natural reaction to recoil from thinking about the harsh and inevitable reality of the end of our lives – and more importantly what would happen should we no longer be able to make our own choices – MSWA Client Suellen Mann is imploring all our Bulletin readers to take the important step of putting in place an Advance Health Directive.
“To put it really bluntly, I don’t want to be lying in a hospital bed when there is no chance of recovery, and I wanted that put in writing, because it is no good waiting until you are in that place because then it is too late, and someone else is going to have to make the decision,” Suellen explained.
“I know that’s blunt, but that’s me,” she said with a wry smile.
For Suellen, it is about ensuring that her choices are clearly communicated and respected, to have control over the life she will live to the very end.
“There is every chance it will happen, that I might not be able to communicate,” she said.
“Everybody faces that possibility. I know someone who was in a bad car accident a few years ago, and that was what really bought it home for me.”
Suellen outlined that there are four documents to complete as part of this process;
Your Will. A legal document that describes how you wish your assets to be distributed upon your death.
Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA). A legal document a person can make that gives another person/s, or organisation, the legal authority to make financial and/or property decisions on their behalf.
Enduring Power of Guardianship (EPG). A legal document that authorises a person/s of your choice to make important personal, lifestyle and treatment decisions on your behalf, should you ever become incapable of making such decisions yourself.
Advance Health Directive (AHD). A legal document that enables you to make decisions about the treatment you would want (or not want) to receive if you became sick or injured and were incapable of communicating your wishes. To commence this process, Suellen attended a local information session encouraged by a close friend. “I remember I was about to walk in the door, and I thought ‘what am I doing here, I’m too young, I don’t need this’,” she said.
“But I am so glad I went because no one knows what’s going to happen tomorrow; it’s not guaranteed.”
The session was enlightening for Suellen, who said the information was presented in a simple but comprehensive way, with the opportunity to organise someone to come to your house to help fill out the documents at no cost.
“I would advise everybody to get someone to come and help out, but if it’s not possible they have made the booklet itself really easy with comments to help you in the margins,” Suellen said.
As well as her own peace of mind, Suellen said it was about relieving the burden of your loved ones, knowing they are making the right choice for you.
The documents cover important decisions not just around resuscitation, but also any health or care decisions should you lose decision-making capacity temporarily, or in the long-term. Yet while these could be the most important decisions you make in your life; Suellen was told only 50 per cent of people have them in place.
“I thought it was going to be quite emotionally confronting, but it wasn’t. I’ve been telling everyone to do it, even my nephew's’ boys who are 19 and 20, because it really is applicable to everyone,” she said.
“Best of all, if in five years’ time there is a significant breakthrough in a cure for MS, I might decide to change my AHD,” she explained. “It’s not set in stone for the rest of my life, if I don’t want it to be.”
Palliative Care Western Australia runs regular Advance Care Planning community workshops, to find out more and see the upcoming session, visit https://bit.ly/ACPWA
