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Hospital Folder & Advance Directives
Living in a small town, our hospital isn’t all that familiar with nmd’s. In fact twice I’ve been transferred to a larger hospital. Fortunately they were a bit more knowledgeable, yet still had missteps. With everything going on I’m wondering if I should put together an emergency folder with info in it just in case. What would go in the folder? Where do you keep it? Has anyone ever needed to use it? Was it helpful? Advance Directives are another thing I’ve avoided all these years. Thoughts on that? It’s not something I plan on needing, but with everything going on in the world is it a good idea to have one?
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2 Replies
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I have recently put my wishes in writing and shared it with my family and my doctor. That way, if I am not able to speak for myself they know that I do not want a DNR, ever. I did make an exception for COVID-19 if I go with palliative sedation: I want a DNR in that instance.
This way people will know what I wanted and one family member will not be upset with another family member’s decision if it is consistent with my wishes. I’m hoping this is reassurance for everyone – and a document that I won’t need to rely on for a long time to come.
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I have a folder with a drug list, Doctor contact page with all my doctors info listed, full medical history and a list of procedures and major tests. It also has a will, power of attorney and medical directives. (Not really needed because after 45 years my wife knows me well enough to know what I want. Plus I told her I would come back and haunt her if she didn’t follow my wishes). I keep it in the backpack that is always on my chair plus an electronic version online in Dropbox that we can always access if needed. Things always seem to happen at the least convenient time and place (emergency room visits while on vacation in a strange city at midnight) and everything goes smoother with the records right there.
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