A surprise call

Whilst on holiday in Spain, my head buried in my third novel of the week, I was extremely surprised to receive a phone call from my GP. My heart was in my mouth as I tentatively answered my mobile. First, he asked me how I was doing and I explained that I was doing extremely well and he said that he was pleased to hear it. The reason for the call was to remind me that I was still on a 'DNR' list for palliative care (in my case the 'end of life' team) and it was a year since I had signed up to make it clear to my loved ones that I had made the decision to not be resuscitated in a situation where this would be necessary. 

To those who are unfamiliar with a 'Do Not Resuscitate' order, it is a written instruction from a doctor which instructs health care providers not to carry out CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) if the patient stops breathing or their heart stops beating. Either way, it's not looking good for the patient and they choose well in advance of this moment (when they are well enough to decide, usually when they are diagnosed as critically or terminally ill but still have all their faculties) to make the decision not to be resuscitated. This decision relates specifically to resuscitation and not to any other type of treatment or medication and is not made lightly by the patient, but in careful consultation with medical professionals. Resuscitation includes mouth-to-mouth, electric shocks to restart the heart and breathing tubes to open the airways and is only implemented in a dire emergency. The reason to have a DNR in place is that if I am in such a desperate state of health, and this choice will simply defer the inevitable, I would prefer to die naturally than to have a desperate and destructive fight for a last glimmer of life. 

Fast forward to today, it was a shocking reminder of how close I had been to death only one year ago. Lying on my roof sofa (my favourite place in all the world), I couldn't be further removed from those testing times. So, did I remove myself from the list? For now, neither I nor the GP felt that it was appropriate to stay on the list, so I was excited to ask to be removed. This only serves to remind me how far I've come and how blessed I have been. So, back to the book, back to living a wonderful life and back to gratitude that I am here to live another day.