DNR - Do Not Resuscitate

If your doctor has written a DNR order at your request, medics are not required to resuscitate you if your heart stops. It is designed to prevent unnecessary suffering & your family may not override it. DNR can be regarded as passive euthanasia.

It is another medical ethics situation where, just because it is possible to prolong life, which is what medics are trained to do, it may not be the right thing for the patient. Everyone who is going to have surgery should think about what they would want to happen should their heart stop & should make clear their wishes, not only to their medical team, but also to their family.

That said a lot of people simply do not want to think about what might happen. They may be more focussed on just coping with the surgery itself. They may be too ill to think about DNR. They may be unconcious. In reality very few people go into hospital having made the decision. That means if there is a problem the medics or the family decide. The family may not be best placed to make the very emotional decision, especially if they have not been prepared for a relative to die & said all that they would want to say.

I think the important thing is what sort of life the patient had before surgery & is likely to have after surgery. In my case I'm 74. I've lived a very fulfilling & interesting life & have lived alone for 10 years. I have a shedload of co-morbid chronic conditions, including heart conditions, & pain & fatigue on a daily basis.

Life generally doesn't get easier as you age, whatever your health is like. Just because the average life expectancy for women in the UK is 83 - 86 (depending on the stats), & many live much longer, doesn't mean that is a good thing. 

What matters is the quality of that life - how happy or contented you are, whether you are able to socialise regularly with good friends & family, whether you are able to manage the day to day things we all have to do, whether you are reasonably healthy & active, whether you feel that there is a purpose to your life....I could go on & on.

So, I think it's a gamble - Cling to life on the basis that it's the only one you get, (unless you believe in reincarnation) - Or risk a possible slow decline or even an unpleasant one. Or "check out" gracefully without any pain & find out what, if anything, is on the other side. 

It seems a no brainer to me.