DNR, CPR, IVF, ADL, PRN, POA, AD/LW, PO, HS, PCP, MS04, IADL, PT, OT, RN, NP, NPO,LPN, CNA, NA, MD, ANH, LSW, TPA, MI, CVA, TBI, PVS, MHB, ARDS, ESRD, COPD, BMP, GTT, CF, ARF, ETOH.

Imagine, just for an instant, that you are being timed and are expected to immediately recite the purpose, meaning, and logic behind these initials. Above is a very small assembly of abbreviations comprised from the thousands of potential references we may encounter during an emergency or critical medical event – an event that may require us to act on behalf of someone we love deeply or for whom we are responsible.

A simpler life. That’s all I ask, I saw it on the intranet or internet, or maybe found it on an iPod, iPad, iPhone, now I need an  eye doctor, lawyer, shrink … can anyone tell me what any of this means?  We hear what we want to hear, and often miss the details of an entire conversation because we are focused on the one phrase, word, or number which triggers a SNAP-TO-ATTENTION(!) response of every sense in our body.  That one moment is different for each of us … where we begin to wonder/wander in our heads.   How long do they have? Are they ever going to be able to walk, talk, eat, breathe, see, hear, live again? What does “managed expectations” mean? What is an “optimal outcome”?  What is a “best case scenario”? How do you do “symptomatic treatment”?  What does “viable” even mean?

Despite the magnitude of information we are granted easier and faster access to, the emotions remain mutual for us all.

Fear

Love

Grief

Joy

Sadness

Empathy

Understanding

Doubt  

Hope

Anger

It is not unusual to see, feel, hear, and experience all of these in a few moments.

DEATH = the glass is half empty.  LIFE = the glass is half full. No matter where we place out trust. Faith is the strength that stays as constant as the magnetic forces at work in the universe to help create and hold us in place.

Faith, and the freedom to express that trust, varies as widely as each smile and as deeply as every dream. Welcome this feeling each day with warmth of heart and reach into the lives of each other with the renewed gift of another day. Share your thoughts, imagine the beauty, and sleep in the satisfaction of having given the light of clarity to those you love. Knowing this (your wishes) will provide the power to generate the force that lifts the fog of confusion and stress surrounding the decisions of what to do when faced with the task of deciphering the multitude of medical and legal abbreviations, terminology, and codes.

Caring Choices stands ashore of your voyage with beaconed guidance to assist when life will finally welcome you home.

(c) 2013 Caring Choices