Posted 12/8/2008 3:31 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Navy! I didn't realize you were going through so much right now. Big hugs!! Your post hit home though I have not been through anything as imminent as this. When my husband was a LEO they had to fill out forms regarding their wishes for his department. He is a totally happy and healthy guy but he told me he wanted to be DNR. Shocked and thinking that he must not know what this really means I badgered him about it. It turns out for him it is more of a religous thing. He believes that when he dies (even for a minute) he may go straight to heaven and he doesn't want to be pulled back from heaven by doctors using extraordinary life saving measures. He is cool w/ getting the heimlich if he is choking or being put under for a procedure or something. And he wants all the care he needs to live a happy healthy life. But, if his heart ever completely stops and he stops breathing, he doesn't want it restarted.
This is something I had/have a very hard time dealing with. In my state you have to have a lawyer and a doctor assist in this decision and you get a special sticker for your license. He has not taken those steps and I wont *allow* him to unless we speak w/ a priest and a doctor about it together. So far now if he had an emergency and I wasn't around life saving measures would be taken. But I am so scared of a day when I am there and have to say "I know he wouldn't want you to do this." At least w/ our state regs a lot of this would be out of my hands but eventually I am sure he will want to make it official.
When he had to put his wishes on his departments form I cried and cried and cried. They even had on there "would you want your spouse to remarry?" He put yes. Anyways, he is in a much safer profession now and I am glad that I know his wishes but it is so hard when I don't agree with them. We are of the same religion but believe things differently.