X-Message-Number: 25935 From: "James Clement" <> Subject: Living Will Follow Up Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 14:00:35 -0500 Yesterday, I submitted a copy of my Living Will in response to a request for samples. Unfortunately, I am under the gun at work, so I don't have a lot of time to elaborate, but I did want to follow that submission up with some advice. I personally would strongly prefer that every measure be taken to keep me alive, assuming my brain is not deteriorating at a fast pace, and thus the strong language in the Living Will to that effect. Don't forget that the purpose of a living will is not only to declare your intentions (i.e., pull the plug, or keep you on life support) but also to give a Court the rationale behind your decision (since you can't predict the future events which might lead to a challenge - both in favor of pulling the plug because your brain might be deteriorating, or keeping you alive because medical technologies for recovery might be just around the corner). I believe that it's thus very important to set out in the Living Will your intention to be Cryopreserved, why you think that's a good idea, and any other relevant facts that might persuade a Court to make a decision which would carry out your intentions or that you've thought through your choice (e.g., the fact that you're not afraid of "future shock"). Everyone who is signed up for Cryopreservation should probably sign a durable power of attorney in favor of a knowledgeable, trustworthy person who can make the critical medical decisions when you are incapable of doing so yourself. Unfortunately, not everyone has a knowledgeable family member or friend who can handle this responsibility. I have spoken with Bill Faloon at the Life Extension Foundation about this issue, and he said that if they had enough people interested in signing up, they might be able to offer that service. IMHO, that is worth exploring. I do not want to give that power to someone at a cryonics organization, since they would have an inherent conflict of interest (they only get money if you're frozen), but I certainly believe that LEF has the knowledgeable staff to make the right choices. I would like to hear others thoughts on whom to appoint as one's medical proxy. Good luck, James Content-Type: text/html; [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=25935