End of Life: Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
The topic on end of life care is always a sensitive subject for individuals because even though everyone knows that death is an inevitable part of the journey in life, it is an avoided topic due to the fear, sadness and grief that it brings to an individual, a family and even to a whole community. I believe that the topic of end of life is totally driven by the person’s beliefs and values.
Personally, I have not spent much time thinking about the matter, partly because I am young and the thoughts that currently occupy me are about loving God, enjoying life to the fullest, loving my family, having a successful career, and eventually starting my own family. However, if I were to decide now on what I would want in my living will and health proxies, I would definitely want the healthcare team to do everything they can to resuscitate me. This is because since I’m a fairly young individual, I believe I have a better prognosis if ever was in a situation where I was critically ill. In regards to who I can lean on to help me make crucial decisions regarding my care and life, I would choose both my parents in assisting me making the right decisions. I believe that both my parents would make the right decisions because I know that all they want is what is best for me. When my parents and I had this type of discussion, they actually voiced their opinion that yes, they would choose being resuscitated and have the healthcare team do everything they can to maintain life, instead of allowing the person to become DNR.
Like other families, our conversation was not smooth sailing because as previously mentioned, death is a sensitive topic for people to discuss.On the contrary, my classmates and I have actually discussed the topic as part of an assignment and we were able to talk about it without any sense of uneasiness.Based on my experience, I believe that in order for the discussion of end of life to be less stressful, it must be brought up at a time where everyone is at a place where their hearts and minds are not occupied with other stressful things in life. This is because bringing up this topic where people are not in a place of comfort will further add a burden to their hearts.
(Photo retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/505599495637390281/)
