Take Care of Dying–Get on with Living
The greatest gift you can give your family and friends is your carefully thought out plan for handling the unexpected events at the end of your life. Here—all in one place—are the basic decisions you need to make as long as you’re living: Your Durable Power of Attorney and your Health Care Directive. Who to choose? What skills to look for? What to do in emergencies? Learn about new issues when you turn terminal. As you know more, you’ll want to decide more. It’s about control.
Communicating with your health care professional and your agent—who will speak for you when you can’t—becomes critical. You want them to follow your decisions in your Health Care Directive. None of this is a single conversation—it’s an ever-changing process. It’s your life. These decisions are yours to make. So take charge and make your voice count—now. Just do it!
A Conversation on Choice with Theo Wells
Whidbey TV Productions
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“Love your colloquial style–it adds buoyancy to a lead-heavy subject. The information you’re sharing deserves to be spread like apple seed.”
—Ann Cutcher, M.D., Enso House, End-of-Life Care
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“As we each die only once, none of us wants to mess up the endgame. This book is packed with insight and wisdom, and makes a complex topic accessible, leading you through the choices that determine the quality of your end-of-life experience. Your children, family and friends will thank you for your foresight in making those choices now.”
—David P. Cauffman, Ph.D., (former) Chief Scientist and Director of Research, the Idaho National Laboratory
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“How strange…we prepare for all manner of things that might happen, and don’t prepare for one thing that is sure to happen: dying! To fix that now, follow the wisdom in this book. It’s about you dying…don’t be afraid to pick it up. It is well written, personal and it will ‘grab’ your attention right away. Get it and act on it now.”
—Peter Morton, Vice President Human Resources, Boeing Commercial Airplanes (retired)
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“Theo Wells has performed a much-needed service in writing her book, Take Care of Dying—Get On with Living: End-of-Life Planning that Works. It is never too early to start preparing for the end of life, and Ms. Wells’ guidance in addressing this important reality is highly knowledgeable and thoroughly researched. She offers readers the wisdom of a thoughtful, well-informed elder who is not afraid to face challenging issues head-on, while also taking care to rescue her readers with a wry sense of humor whenever the subject threatens to become too weighty. This book provides an important contribution to a rapidly expanding arena of inquiry around how to age well. I recommend it highly!”
—Betsy MacGregor, M.D., Author, In Awe of Being Human: A Doctor’s Stories from the Edge of Life and Death, Co-Founder and Board Member, Enso House: Residence for Care at the End of Life