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Advance Directives - Decisions Ovarian Cancer Patients Will Be Asked To Make

Perhaps the very last thing a woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer wants to consider are end of life issues. Unfortunately, ovarian cancer is a deadly disease and unlike other cancers, survival rates are lower since the cancer is usually caught so late in the cycle of the disease. Even patients who have avoided advance directives - decisions ovarian cancer patients will be asked to make - while in the doctor's office, as soon as they check into the hospital in preparation for surgery, these questions will resurface.

Although unpleasant, these decisions must at some point be made by everyone and the sooner you make the time to consider the decisions and choices open to you, the sooner you can refocus on getting well and fighting the disease. To help you in this important albeit unpleasant task, here are some points to consider:

* End of life issues are now part and parcel of the hospital experience. They are not a hint at the severity of your condition, or a capitulation on the part of the treating physician but instead they are now considered important medical documentation that is kept in your file in the same way that your consent for treatment and insurance information will be saved. The hospital sees this as a protective measure against lawsuits but patients and their loved ones and even as nobody wants to consider the ending of their physical being, it is worthwhile to consider it now.

* Advance directives are far more intricate than simply the decision to "pull the plug" as the vernacular goes. Instead, these directives cover a multitude of scenarios that your loved ones and hospital staff agree to abide by if you become too sick to communicate or if you are under medication that may cloud your mind and thus not allow you to precisely state your wishes with respect to certain treatment options. Death and dying only play a partial role in advance directives.

* Advance directives have a variety of components: usually there is a living will, health care by proxy declarations, and also a durable power of attorney. These documents spell out who will make decisions for you, should you become incapacitated and they also spell out the scope of the decision making power this individual will have. For example, should you have to be put in a medically induced coma for a week, who is the person that will look after your children and be in charge of school decisions? Use advance directives to allocate a power of attorney! In the same vein, who is in charge of paying your bills and should it become known that you have fallen victim to an identity thief, who will have the power to contact credit card companies on your behalf and also alert the credit reporting agencies? Again, a durable power of attorney can take care of all these issues.

* The health care by proxy declaration may be made to ensure that a person specifically designated by you will have the power of decision making. While in married couples this is assumed to be the spouse, it does not have to be if you wish to entrust someone else with this decision! In the same vein, in cases where relationships lack legal validation - such as live-in companions, or gay relationships - this designation clears the often quoted hurdle that separates couples.