Welcome to the Light Keepers Podcast. I'm Clayton
Vandiver, your Light Keeper, with a show dedicated
to everyone who wants to get the most quality
out of life that they can. My co -host, as always,
is Charlene, our very own licensed clinical social
worker certified in the state of Florida, who
is going to be talking with us this week about
chronic, critical, and terminal. What they mean...
and so much more on this edition of the Light
Keepers Podcast. And before we start, as always,
please leave your questions or comments below.
We will answer them next week on our next edition,
which airs every Wednesday evening at 7 p .m.
Eastern. The Light Keepers podcast is an exclusive
production of A Guiding Light, and we'll tell
you more about A Guiding Light at the end of
the podcast. Okay, so it determines your medical
care and how the doctor and you, how that conversation
is going to progress. What can you do in each
of these states to give you, you know, our focus
is always on the very best quality of life possible.
And we don't focus on end of life. We don't focus
on those issues. We focus on how you live. every
moment leading to those eventualities, which
we all face. So what do you do? The key thing
that you want to do in all of those is you want
to stop and assess how you define a good quality
of life. Okay, how do you do that? Well, you
look at the things that are important to you
and you think of the things that you can't do
without. And don't think of the obvious things.
Of course, we all need oxygen. We all need to
be able to breathe. But would you consider yourself
to have a good quality of life if you couldn't
get out of bed? Would you consider yourself to
have a good quality of life if you weren't able
to recognize anyone around you? So if you did
not have the ability to be independent, if you
could not take care of yourself, if you could
not have that mental awareness, is that a quality
of life that you would want your life prolonged
in? Because if the answer is no, it's a good
time to start thinking about having that conversation
with your family about what kind of medical treatment
you would want if you reach a situation where
you can no longer make your own decisions. Because
that, again, is one of those factors that may
enter in once things become critical. Absolutely.
And what some people don't realize, and this
is something that I've heard a lot, well, When
I get to that point, I'll decide what I'm going
to do. No, you won't. You won't be able to decide.
Exactly. Exactly. And a lot of people don't realize
that a situation can go from chronic to critical
to terminal very quickly. That's a good thing
to keep in mind. And especially that I think
most everyone puts themselves in their mind into
the situation that they're in right now. not
really able to imagine that situation any different.
Correct. And it's really hard to put yourself
into the position, into the frame of mind that,
okay, when I'm not able to think as I am able
to think right now, then I'm going to decide
to do something different. No, you won't. You
won't be able to. You won't know you need to.
and probably one of the biggest things that i
have heard that makes me cringe every time is
my family will know what i want or or my favorite
one the doctors know what to do so if you leave
your care in the hands of doctors they are required
They are required by their Hippocratic Oath and
by law to do everything possible to keep you
alive for as long as possible, regardless of
whether or not you are in a quality of life that
you find acceptable. And that's where that quality
of life becomes important. And if you're not
able to tell them what quality of life you feel
is acceptable, then they make that decision for
you, which is simply to maintain you. That could
be awful. That could mean living on a ventilator
for years. Years. And if you're on a ventilator,
guess what? Now you are hooked up to a machine.
24 -7. You no longer have the tube going in your
mouth and down your throat. Now you have a hole
in your throat with a tube connected to it that's
still connected to the machine that can't, most
of the time, be maintained at home. So now you're
in a facility 24 -7. Now if you're someone who
wanted to live out your remaining days at home,
not hooked up to machines, gone. potentially
you didn't have any choice in that correct and
one of the things that we most strongly advocate
for on this show is being able to live life on
your own terms and part of that is informed decision
making okay what is informed decision making
in the little bit of time we have left informed
decision making is basically where you have the
information that you need to make the decision
to get the care that you want to receive and
not get the care that you don't. And that makes
sense. So informed decision -making is having
the right answers to the right questions. Correct.
And knowing the questions. And being able to
make good decisions for yourself when you're
still able to, and being able to express those
so that your doctors, your family, all of your
caregivers... will know what your wishes are
once you're no longer able to tell them. And
it's not just about being able to guide your
own care. It's taking that burden off of your
family. I cannot tell you how many times I've
been standing in the ICU with a family devastated
over having to make the decision to take a loved
one off life support, and they're wondering if
they did the right thing because they didn't
know what their loved one wanted. And you know
what I can imagine? You say that your loved ones
will know what your wishes are. and this one
will know that your wishes are this this one
will know that your wishes are different from
that and this one will know that there's an entirely
different scenario that they think is what you
would want. Because everyone has a slightly different
perception of every member of their family and
what their wishes might be. Correct. And you
and I both have seen situations where it's in
writing. It's in black and white. And you've
still had siblings fight over the plan of care
because they interpreted it differently. And
that's one of the most heartbreaking parts of
the entire equation because that divides families.
That hurts feelings that sometimes... are never
able to heal correct so if anything that we say
on this show is able to help any family prevent
that and and step away from all of that divisiveness
then we've done something good absolutely well
Of course, this is all a highly personal choice
and no conversation that we have on the Light
Keepers podcast should ever take the place of
your own medical care team or other professional
advisor who should always be consulted by you
on your specific situational needs. And it's
always good to be willing to talk about quality
of life because every single one of us faces
some of these issues some of the time. Either
not prepared at all or very well prepared indeed.
for joining us here every Wednesday at 7 p .m.
Eastern for the Light Keepers podcast. This is
an exclusive production of Vanimation Studios
brought to you by A Guiding Light, 501c3 nonprofit
organization dedicated to education and information
that allows informed preparation for living the
very best life possible. The mission of A Guiding
Light is to provide education for professionals
and information for everyone else about life
planning, available guidance, and counseling
that helps individuals and their family navigate
options that improve the quality of their remaining
days. The organization is committed to training
professionals through scholarship grants when
needed who will help you find the best information
and options to meet your planning needs that
are available in your area so you can be aware
of your choices, confident in your decisions,
and at peace. that you've made the very best
decisions to live life on your own terms. Visit
the website foraguidinglight .org or make a tax
-deductible contribution that helps others find
the information and resources that they need.
Please send your check to the address that's
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so grateful for your support and sincerely hope
you will join the conversation in coming weeks.
Add your questions and comments below. Speaking
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catch every single episode. I'm Clayton Vandiver,
your Light Keeper. We'll see you next time.