The Smart Ass Cripple Blog is written by friend, disability activist, humorist, playwright, and essayist Mike Ervin. (and I might have left a couple items off the list of hats he wears – and most of those hats are garishly colored – several hold one or more beers with straws.)
Mike Ervin’s name is probably familiar to regular readers of this blog – his name is attached to a significant amount of the posts tagged “humor” or “satire.” There’s even more of his stuff to be found in our archived collection of “humor” articles.
Mike’s (or Smart Ass Cripple’s) latest blog post is a send-up of those familiar stories about the unintended torment that can be inflicted on an incapacitated loved one and the guilt the decisionmaker has to live with – and all because the incapacitated relative never made out an advanced directive:
Excerpt:
Today’s lecture is on the importance of advance directives. What would you do if you were suddenly in a position where you were unable to make medical decisions for yourself? It’s vitally important that you think about this right away, while you still can. Write down specific instructions in an advance directive for your loved ones who will be your surrogate decision makers to follow. This will save everyone a lot of anguish.
Believe me, I know. I made a well-meaning but profoundly ill-advised medical decision on behalf of my aunt and now she must live with the consequences. Two years ago my aunt was hospitalized due to a sudden, unexplained but temporary wave of delirium. Within two months she was back home with her wits restored intact. But she remembered little of what went on those two months. As I pieced it all together for her- – the tests, the treatments, the surgery– I mentioned that one day when she was in the nursing home for rehab, she played bingo. She looked at me with horror. “Bingo? ME?”
It gets better – and worth the read and needed laugh. Read the rest of “It’s All Over But the Bingo” and bookmark Smart Ass Cripple so you can find it when you want or need a laugh in a world that can seem joyless at time. –Stephen Drake