Do you have a Living Will?
Do you have a LIVING WILL aka ADVANCED CARE PLAN/DIRECTIVE?
If this sounds like a depressing thing to think about, IT TOTALLY IS NOT!
In fact, it’s INCREDIBLY EMPOWERING!
When I turned 65 in June this year, I acknowledged to myself that I wanted to, not just ‘think’ about preparing for my end of life, but actually do something about it, as much for the sake of my husband Peter and my son Daifydd, as for me.
Either one, or both of them, would need to make decisions in the event that I was unable to make them for myself, during a time that would already be very stressful for them.
But it wasn’t just turning 65, I think an even bigger catalyst for the desire to plan, was reading the book DEATH NESTING, written by End of Life/Death Doula Anne-Marie Keppel.
A couple of weeks ago I googled ADVANCED CARE PLANNING NZ and this site came up… https://www.myacp.org.nz/ and as soon as I opened it I loved the presentation and feel of it.
Completing the standard information part of the plan was easy, but some of the other sections that required thinking about and communicating my feelings were rather more challenging. So, in my first session, I completed the ‘easy’ stuff. It was actually really helpful to split completing the plan into two sessions, because when I sat down a week later to fill out the sections I had found challenging a week earlier, the words seemed to flow easily.
I was able to draw upon the knowledge gained from reading ‘Death Nesting’, to leave clear instructions on how I want to be cared for at the end of my life, in the event that I am no longer able to communicate those desires myself.
The next step is to make an appointment with a Health Care Practitioner to go over the medical aspects of the plan and have them sign it off to show that at the time I prepared this Plan/Directive, I was competent, had adequate information, understood the choices I was making, and did so voluntarily.
I think this Plan is a WONDERFUL GIFT TO MYSELF AND TO MY LOVED ONES in the event that I'm not able to communicate my wishes during my end-of-life process.
Namaste
Michelle
