A Living Will and a Medical Power of Attorney are types of Advance Directives discussed by Larry Peterson at a recent meeting of the Pella Business and Professional Women's Forum. These documents explain your health care wishes in case you become unable to speak or otherwise communicate for yourself, such as if you become severely injured or seriously ill.

These documents are important so that the medical community and your family may know and carry out your wishes in the event you are unable to make your wishes known. The forms are only in effect when medically necessary; someone you name to make decisions for you can only do so if you are incapable of making those decisions for yourself.

Most of us do not want to think about end-of-life decisions, whether that end be from accidental or natural causes, but what you need to remember is that you are providing these documents not only for yourself, but for your loved ones. You are taking the burden off their shoulders, so they are not wrestling with "I wish I knew what she wanted" when you are no longer able to directly tell them.

These Advance Directives are state documents, and doctors in other states will honor them, if they know about them. There is an Advance Directive card you can carry in your wallet; if you are in an accident, for instance, the police on scene and/or hospital emergency personnel will go first to your wallet or purse to find out who you are.

Pella Regional Health Center has created its own set of Advance Directives documents, less generic and more helpful than the state documents, according to Peterson. The Center will provide you with a copy, or you may review and print them from http://www.pellahealth.org/services/spiritual_services.php#advancecareplanning. Click on Advance Care Planning from the list of six at the top of the page, or simple scroll down to that section.) If you need assistance filling out the Directives, you may call 641-621-2454 or 641-628-6749.

A Living Will pertains to life-sustaining measures that prolong the dying process. Life-sustaining measures do not preclude providing pain relief and comfort, but pertain to mechanical or artificial procedures or treatments such as surgery, respiratory support, dialysis, antibiotics, cardiac resuscitation, blood tests, X-rays, transfusions, feeding tubes. The PRHC form has a section on situational decisions, so you can decide in advance which of those procedures you may wish to have administered, and which you wish to have withheld. It also has a section where you may indicate any special wishes or instructions not already covered in the document.

A Medical Power of Attorney appoints a health-care agent who acts on your behalf, and cannot be your health care provider. You can revoke and change this designation at any time you are able to communicate that.

PRHC provides a checklist of items for you to consider as you prepare these documents. You need to think about who you want to make decisions about your medical care if you cannot - whether that person will be able to respect your wishes and be able to carry the burden of carrying out those wishes. You need to make that person aware that you have chosen them and make sure they are comfortable with your decision. You need to be familiar with just what life sustaining measures there are, which you would like and which you would not like to have used, and under what circumstances. You need to decide what quality of life means to you, where you wish to die, whether you wish to donate your organs. If you have specific rituals or ceremonies you wish to have performed, they need to be specified in the document.

Once you have completed the forms (we are only talking a couple of pages here), you need to talk to your family and doctor to inform them of the decisions you have made. Then put a copy of your directives in a safe place not under lock and key, and provide a copy for your medical records, to your family members, and to your designated agent.

It sounds like a daunting task, but the real "work" of it is in deciding what you really want. The paperwork itself is not difficult, and help is readily available. You need not consult an attorney. Think about the last time someone near and dear to you was dying. Was that an easy or a difficult experience for you? Wouldn't you like to make it as easy as possible for those you love, and who will love you more than ever in your time of crisis?

Marty Racheter 62508