为什么我没有提前护理计划在23岁

When I was rediagnosed with tongue cancer at age 23, I had to deal with a lot of things most people my age had never considered. But whenever people suggested that I do提前护理计划and complete a living will, I almost laughed. I wasn't even old enough to rent a car.

我一直把它关闭。但正如我的舌头癌症手术蹑手蹑脚的日期越近，我决定，我不想离开我的父母有任何问题。这是时间来完成高级护理计划表格。

启动高级护理规划过程
我开始在MD安德森通过电子邮件发送我的社会工作顾问。她给了我一些文书工作，并告诉我，我即将对MD安德森访问期间，我可以完成它们。

几天后，我告诉我的爸爸，我想给他添加到我的支票和储蓄账户。他看着我，好像我生长两个头。正如我所料，他问为什么。我的回答很简单：“因为如果有什么发生在我身上，我希望你能够访问我的钱还清任何票据在我的名字，”我知道他将最好的人在我的家人。什么爸爸希望在他的小女孩面前哭？

A couple weeks later, my dad and I returned to MD Anderson. During the trip, our social work counselor gave my dad my blankLiving Willand律师的医疗电源forms. These legally binding documents would state my wishes about who would make decisions for me and what types of decisions would be made if I couldn't make them myself.

我爸爸只是看着我。这是他23岁的女儿，她的秃头被她妈妈的围巾覆盖，脸上满是化疗引起的痤疮，拿着纸片，将决定她的余生将是什么样，如果12小时的手术切除在她的脖子肿瘤没有按计划去。我对他微笑。“一切都将是好的，爸爸。”我说。

Considering what I want
I waited a few days to even look through the Living Will before I started writing with my purple pen. The first few pages were easier than I'd expected.

第一个问题问我怎么会想安慰或支持。然后，他们得到了一个有点艰难。和谁我想有律师的医疗电源？为什么我想要什么样的生活配套？

我转身到下一个页面，深吸了一口气，开始填写什么我希望我的朋友和家人知道我的部分。然后是另一恶棍：我多么希望被人记住。我知道我能有一点乐趣与这部分内容。我不想在葬礼上;我想庆祝我的生命！我希望人们穿上鲜艳的颜色，酒饮，听我喜欢的音乐。我想我的狗在不带牵引跑来跑去，有很多划痕和腹部摩擦的！

The next section was on how I want to share my belongings. I wrote down a few things and left my dogs to my dad. I knew he'd take good care of them.

最后，我转向了最后一节，在那里我可以写邮件给所有我爱的人的一部分。我写，写，直到我的手指变得麻木。

提前护理计划寻找舒适
一旦我做，我分享我的生活会与我的爸爸。

"I need you to read it now, so you can ask me any questions." He understood.

我的妈妈是强硬的，因为她拒绝阅读它，而我在那里。但在此之前我去做手术，我看着她的眼睛，说：“妈妈，一切都会好起来的。这主要是针对我的，所以我知道一切都采取了什么事情发生的照顾。我需要知道大家都知道我想要什么，如果事情发生在我身上。”

She didn't read it before my surgery, but I still felt a huge relief. I knew it was unlikely that anything would go wrong, but I took comfort in knowing that my family would have a plan if anything happened.

My parents got to visit me briefly before I was rolled into the operating room, and I smiled at them with one of the biggest smiles I can remember. While deep down something told my cancer treatment would turn out a success, I also took comfort in knowing I'd prepared a document that said, "This is how Rita wants it done, and this is what Rita wants for all of you."