Do Not Resuscitate Orders, ID Bracelets & Experiences

@gingerw

It’s been a while since we discussed tattoos but I am now the proud owner of tattoos on both ankles. My right ankle is a shamrock and then a couple of weeks later my grandson added a shooting star. I love it so much I got the sun and moon combo on my left ankle last week.

I have to say that nothing hurt at any of the 3 times that he inked me. He has an amazing touch and gave me extensive aftercare instructions.

People have a lot of misconceptions about the process and what it involves. Anyone thinking of getting a tattoo should research the most reputable tattoo shops and, when you decide on one, go get a consult with one of the artists. Ask anything and everything you need to know. You will pay a small fee for that but you can get a feel for the shop and how it is run. The consult fee should go towards the price. Tattoo artists will make sure you are ready to do this, take you through all the steps and take breaks when you need to. They will refuse to work on anyone who seems under the influence. My grandson refused to work on a belligerent customer who wanted a tattoo to cover a very damaged skin area. He said that the outcome would not hide the damage and that he wouldn’t be happy with the result. The older more experienced artists agreed with his decision after the customer angrily stormed out. A very large tattoo may take more than one visit with a minimum healing time of 2 weeks. Some people take longer to heal. The artist will be the judge of whether you are ready to continue.

This particular shop is well known and in a great area here in Florida. There are also many many of these shops all over the state and some have bad reputations. The Health Department makes random inspections.

As always, take into consideration your own health. It’s not surgery but it is invasive.

FL Mary….first tattoo at 82!

@imallears Congratulations! It has now been about 14 years since my last one was done. Soon I will have skin cancer surgery near an old tattoo from the 80s. It remains to be seen if they will have to cut into it to get a good margin, or not.

Going back to the topic of this thread, regarding Do Not Resuscitate orders, last weekend I participated as a pretend patient for training purposes with some firefighters. Once again, in my feedback to them, I stressed about having POLST paperwork available at all times. And, as I told them, if a patient has a a DNR, but you don't know about it, it is better to have saved their life for them to refer to it later, than to lose a patient. It's a sensitive subject to many people, and our first responders are not immune to that. I was honored to help them out.
Ginger

I received an emergency alert folder from local fire department that you fill out all information and post it on your refrigerator. So if you have to call them all the information they need is on that paper.

@cathy58 Our local volunteer fire department also likes to see information posted on a patient's fridge! I am looking into getting some to be handed out by them and our City Hall, from https://www.thefileoflife.org/about
Ginger

On my latest visit with my doctor we spoke about this. He was agreeable to signing one and so we did. It is on my refrigerator and I have informed people who need to know that I have one.

I think you may be talking about a POLST [physician's order for life sustaining treatment]? You can choose the level of care you want if you are not able to verbalize it. I also have one, keep a copy in my glove compartment in car if there is an accident. Also, my medical alert bracelet has DNR on it as a line item.
Ginger

No. I am talking about a Do Not Resuscitate Order.

In some hospitals in US, UK and France- if your close family says no, that usually overrides your request(not every time but often). Either that or the family try to sue the hospital. They say because their loved one was alone with no advisers-they were talked into it by those trying to free up beds. I know this is not true. Moreover, the families say their loved one was depressed and so did not have their full reasoning powers.
The only way around this is to tell your family and make sure they agree. It’s difficult but not impossible.
My younger sister worked as a senior nurse in all three countries above over a 20 year period. She also worked in Germany but I don’t know what their situation is.

@magsbrad Along with DNR orders, which should be on file in your hospital [at least in my state they strongly encourage it!], if someone has decided to be an organ/tissue donor, they are registered with DMV and have it notated on their license. It can be a time of high emotions when a loved one is at the end of life. Having plans in place, making sure everyone knows, goes a long way to easing difficult conversations. My husband has told me his thoughts many times, but I had to really encourage him to document all of those thoughts in order for it to be "official".
Ginger

Excellent comment. Thanks.