Now that's one smart old broad

As an old ER nurse, this was something that was talked about...a lot. Every paramedic...every other nurse I worked with...said the same thing.

"I'm gonna have DNR tattooed on my chest."

DECORAH, Iowa - Mary Wohlford has made it perfectly clear what her final wishes are: It's written in ink — on her skin. Wohlford, 80, had the words "DO NOT RESUSCITATE" tattooed on her chest in February.

Wohlford hopes she's made her wishes perfectly clear should she become incapacitated. She also has a living will hanging on the side of her refrigerator.

"People might think I'm crazy, but that's OK," she said. "Sometimes the nuttiest ideas are the most advanced."

Bless her heart.

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've been part of a resuscitation on an elderly, chronically sick person. I firmly believe that everyone should be made to watch an especially...aggressive...resuscitation on a frail, elderly body.
Simply put, it's beyond cruel. And in most cases, it's a complete and utter failure.

Perhaps the surviving family feels better that "everything" was done. But I'm pretty sure they aren't realizing that they just unknowingly put their loved one through an agonizing, painful, degrading process that just didn't have to take place.

I'm not one to "champion" anything. But this...this is a topic that never fails to make me wanna raise my voice.

It's all about the quality, people. Not the quantity. When it's time, it's time. Let your loved one go peacefully...comfortably. Everyone...EVERYONE...should have the right, when the time comes, to decide how they die.

And, for gawd's sake...get a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare so that, if you're unable to express your own wishes, you have someone who can do it for you.

Because, unfortunately, that tat isn't worth the skin it's written on. A Living Will isn't worth the paper it's written on either, if someone...another family member or a loved one...objects to it.