Writing a living will put you in the position of evaluating how your life might be should you suffer a serious injury or illness. It's common to feel sadness and discomfort as you evaluate this scenario, but taking the time to think about your wishes and draft up a living will with the help of a will attorney can make decisions easier for your family. One topic to consider is how long you want to continue to live when it's the opinion of the medical staff that you will not regain your health. This means not only considering whether you want to be on a ventilator, but also whether you'll opt for the following measures that will prolong your life.

Feeding Tube

When a patient is unconscious, his or her medical team will frequently use a feeding tube to keep the patient alive. The use of this device can indefinitely prolong the patient's life, so you'll want to consider whether this is a scenario that you want. Despite its obvious benefit, there are drawbacks to the use of the feeding tube. For example, it can be upsetting for your family to see you with this tube in place. There's no right or wrong answer about using a feeding tube; you'll need to evaluate your own wishes.

Antibiotics

Medical teams also use antibiotics as a measure of keeping a patient alive longer. When you're sick, it's often possible to get sepsis. This condition can be life-threatening and is often the cause of death for people in the hospital with a variety of ailments. Some patients want antibiotics to fight the sepsis and stay alive, while others view sepsis as an easy way to gently pass away. When you're writing your living will, it's important to think about the use of antibiotics and specify your wishes.

Oxygen

Different from the ventilator that can help you to breathe when you're not able to do so alone, oxygen is another tool that medical professionals may administer to a patient who is gravely ill. Getting oxygen can prolong your life, but you may wish to evaluate how long you want to live when you're unconscious and the medical team believes that you will not wake up again. It can be difficult for you and your family to decide that you don't want these measures that can help to prolong your life, but specifying them in your living will is a good way to ensure that everyone knows your wishes.