There is an important distinction between an advance directive or advance care planning and what Quebec is doing. ADs and ACP cannot be used for MAiD anywhere in Canada. In Quebec, once a person has a diagnosis of a condition that might lead to loss of capacity they can make an advance request for MAiD. A subtle but important difference. We wrote about that before here https://maidincanada.substack.com/p/quebecs-advance-request-for-maid-785
Actually adding MAiD into an advance directive or advance care plan is something we hear people saying they want all the time. It's one of the most common questions we get when providing MAiD education. Time will tell if the Quebec model is as far as making advanced plans goes or if something closer to an advance directive becomes reality.
You are living your committment to educating the public about MAiD and Health Care conundrums. In your hospital bed, writing your article! WoW! Talk about inspiration!
Thank you. I really had nothing else to do :-) May as well be productive. I'm home now and recovering (with the support of the best nurse in the world!). Thank you for the encouragement.
Very sorry to hear about your healthcare ordeal, Paul, and hope you are feeling much better. And thanks for turning your misfortune into a helpful reminder about the absolute necessity to have and Advance Care Plan.
Thank you. So many people have shared their personal stories and the lessons they learned with us. It felt right to return the favour. I'm home now recovering. Thanks for your support and thoughts.
First, I’m glad you’re on the mend and thank you for
sharing. Creating an Advanced Care Plan is importance and, for me at least, difficult. I had put a preliminary one together a few months ago, intending to discuss it with my GP to check I really understood what I was requesting.
But before I could do so, I got a cancer diagnosis and found myself bound for surgery. Suddenly I realized that when I wrote my document, I was imagining a future me, much older, much more frail, not me as I got wheeled into surgery three weeks ago. Current me, like you, would have wanted my spouse to ask for full code today, but like yours did. And having written that, I’m now not even sure that’s right!
So, my logical calm “decisions” now need a full rethink and some clear descriptions of when they apply. I definitely need to talk it over more with both my GP and my family. This is hard and necessary stuff that can’t be put together in an afternoon, and definitely not in a moment of crisis.
Thank you for sharing that. What a difficult thing to go through. Our thoughts are with you. Your insight there is great. We do tend to imagine ourselves encountering these challenges sometime way in the future. That's a hard thing to plan for. Our goals and values constantly change and evolve over time. All we can do is start those conversations as soon as we can and keep them going as our health and priorities change.
Thanks for sharing your experience, it is a great reminder for everyone all to 'get our affairs in order'.
Best wishes from your friends in Australia! I was relieved when reading the article to realise that it obviously worked out okay, but it certainly sounded very frightening - perhaps more for Kim since you were unconscious.
I loved the personal photo of Reggie giving you a cuddle - so cute!! It must have relaxed you and given you a warm, fuzzy feeling - just what the Doctor ordered!
I'm so glad to hear that you are okay, and I hope Kim is doing well too! I'm hoping that by completing the Goals of Care forms in Alberta my medical team will know our choices, as well as the Advance Care Plan through DWD (which is excellent). In a moment like this though I'm not as confident as I should be about how to answer that singular question. As always, more conversations with family is needed.
Glad to hear that you are on the mend and that your frightening symptoms were not as serious as they initially appeared. Thank you for using the incident as a teaching moment for everyone. These discussions are not pleasant but how so very important they are to have with your loved ones!
Thanks, Philip. Working in palliative care we've seen families struggle with these conversations and decisions for years. You'd think we'd be better prepared. It's ok not to want to have these conversations. That's something we all struggle with. Hopefully we can help someone with our story. Thank you.
Christa is amazing. Has helped so many people plan for the future. These are difficult conversations to have, but important. That sense of reassurance is worth it. Thanks you ❤️ https://deathsapprentice.ca/about-the-apprentice
Whoah! Scary. I learned about Advance Care Planning through Christa Ovenell (heard her on CBC, then took a course with her on wills, planning for end of life and unexpected illness, etc). What an eye-opener. And it was reassuring to go through the process and have a plan in place for different scenarios.
Oh my goodness, Paul and Kim. I’m relieved to hear you are in good hands and what an important message.
I remember when I was working in retirement ( seriously sign of the times more long-term care), I threw my back out horribly and when I returned to work I was assigned modified duties. One of my assignments was to go through every resident’s file and ensure they were up to date
As I’m sure people understand, updating files is a mundane task that can get overlooked for years (especially in an understaffed, overworked facility) and I was surprised that many of the residents had full code status even if they had lived in the facility for 20 years and their age and health had changed drastically
Had I not updated these files, very old sick individuals would have been subject to full code legally. Of course, I spoke with each resident separately and they decided what option would best suit their needs.
I’m recovering from a surgery, myself, Paul I wish you healthy days ahead Kim needs you and so do we.
Thank you, Gaye. I'm in good hands here at the hospital, and I'll have the best nurse possible once I'm home in a few days.
We've seen that too. We all get so caught up in caring for our loved ones, caring for our patients, that we forget to make sure their wishes will be followed, and updated as things change. You probably prevented a lot of traumatic deaths--deaths some of your clients wouldn't have wanted.
We hope your recovery is going well. We'll be out that way as soon as we can.
Quebec is the only province with Advanced Planning request for MAID. They are always on the leading edge for MAiD evolution.
Hi Joy,
There is an important distinction between an advance directive or advance care planning and what Quebec is doing. ADs and ACP cannot be used for MAiD anywhere in Canada. In Quebec, once a person has a diagnosis of a condition that might lead to loss of capacity they can make an advance request for MAiD. A subtle but important difference. We wrote about that before here https://maidincanada.substack.com/p/quebecs-advance-request-for-maid-785
Actually adding MAiD into an advance directive or advance care plan is something we hear people saying they want all the time. It's one of the most common questions we get when providing MAiD education. Time will tell if the Quebec model is as far as making advanced plans goes or if something closer to an advance directive becomes reality.
Thanks for the comment.
You are living your committment to educating the public about MAiD and Health Care conundrums. In your hospital bed, writing your article! WoW! Talk about inspiration!
Thank you, Paul. Your work is so valuable.
Thank you. I really had nothing else to do :-) May as well be productive. I'm home now and recovering (with the support of the best nurse in the world!). Thank you for the encouragement.
Very sorry to hear about your healthcare ordeal, Paul, and hope you are feeling much better. And thanks for turning your misfortune into a helpful reminder about the absolute necessity to have and Advance Care Plan.
Thank you. So many people have shared their personal stories and the lessons they learned with us. It felt right to return the favour. I'm home now recovering. Thanks for your support and thoughts.
First, I’m glad you’re on the mend and thank you for
sharing. Creating an Advanced Care Plan is importance and, for me at least, difficult. I had put a preliminary one together a few months ago, intending to discuss it with my GP to check I really understood what I was requesting.
But before I could do so, I got a cancer diagnosis and found myself bound for surgery. Suddenly I realized that when I wrote my document, I was imagining a future me, much older, much more frail, not me as I got wheeled into surgery three weeks ago. Current me, like you, would have wanted my spouse to ask for full code today, but like yours did. And having written that, I’m now not even sure that’s right!
So, my logical calm “decisions” now need a full rethink and some clear descriptions of when they apply. I definitely need to talk it over more with both my GP and my family. This is hard and necessary stuff that can’t be put together in an afternoon, and definitely not in a moment of crisis.
Best of luck to you and yours
Thank you. I am home now recovering.
Thank you for sharing that. What a difficult thing to go through. Our thoughts are with you. Your insight there is great. We do tend to imagine ourselves encountering these challenges sometime way in the future. That's a hard thing to plan for. Our goals and values constantly change and evolve over time. All we can do is start those conversations as soon as we can and keep them going as our health and priorities change.
Thank you. We wish you the best.
Paul and Kim
Thanks for sharing your experience, it is a great reminder for everyone all to 'get our affairs in order'.
Best wishes from your friends in Australia! I was relieved when reading the article to realise that it obviously worked out okay, but it certainly sounded very frightening - perhaps more for Kim since you were unconscious.
I loved the personal photo of Reggie giving you a cuddle - so cute!! It must have relaxed you and given you a warm, fuzzy feeling - just what the Doctor ordered!
I'm so glad to hear that you are okay, and I hope Kim is doing well too! I'm hoping that by completing the Goals of Care forms in Alberta my medical team will know our choices, as well as the Advance Care Plan through DWD (which is excellent). In a moment like this though I'm not as confident as I should be about how to answer that singular question. As always, more conversations with family is needed.
Glad to hear that you are on the mend and that your frightening symptoms were not as serious as they initially appeared. Thank you for using the incident as a teaching moment for everyone. These discussions are not pleasant but how so very important they are to have with your loved ones!
Thanks, Philip. Working in palliative care we've seen families struggle with these conversations and decisions for years. You'd think we'd be better prepared. It's ok not to want to have these conversations. That's something we all struggle with. Hopefully we can help someone with our story. Thank you.
Sounds scary! So glad you’re doing better now…..take good care of yourselves.
Kim handled it like a champ...I've been told :-).
Glad to hear you’re ok!
Christa is amazing. Has helped so many people plan for the future. These are difficult conversations to have, but important. That sense of reassurance is worth it. Thanks you ❤️ https://deathsapprentice.ca/about-the-apprentice
Whoah! Scary. I learned about Advance Care Planning through Christa Ovenell (heard her on CBC, then took a course with her on wills, planning for end of life and unexpected illness, etc). What an eye-opener. And it was reassuring to go through the process and have a plan in place for different scenarios.
Oh my goodness, Paul and Kim. I’m relieved to hear you are in good hands and what an important message.
I remember when I was working in retirement ( seriously sign of the times more long-term care), I threw my back out horribly and when I returned to work I was assigned modified duties. One of my assignments was to go through every resident’s file and ensure they were up to date
As I’m sure people understand, updating files is a mundane task that can get overlooked for years (especially in an understaffed, overworked facility) and I was surprised that many of the residents had full code status even if they had lived in the facility for 20 years and their age and health had changed drastically
Had I not updated these files, very old sick individuals would have been subject to full code legally. Of course, I spoke with each resident separately and they decided what option would best suit their needs.
I’m recovering from a surgery, myself, Paul I wish you healthy days ahead Kim needs you and so do we.
Looking forward to an eventual visit to see us.
Stay gold, my friend 💛
Gaye
Thank you, Gaye. I'm in good hands here at the hospital, and I'll have the best nurse possible once I'm home in a few days.
We've seen that too. We all get so caught up in caring for our loved ones, caring for our patients, that we forget to make sure their wishes will be followed, and updated as things change. You probably prevented a lot of traumatic deaths--deaths some of your clients wouldn't have wanted.
We hope your recovery is going well. We'll be out that way as soon as we can.
Staying gold,
Paul
You both know you are ALWAYS welcome.