The Crucial Importance of a Will to Live: An Urgent Request
BY Rai Rojas

If you are reading this, there exists a good likelihood that in one way or another you are involved in the right to life movement. As a pro-lifer you quite possibly dedicate much of your time in the service of others.

You fight to protect the lives of unborn children, the elderly, those with disabilities, and all those who cannot speak for themselves. You probably also suffered the tribulations of the Terri Schindler Schiavo case, and were devastated by her death.

I have worked for the National Right to Life Committee since 1991, and was involved in pro-life activities for many years before that. I have spent countless hours on mostly Spanish-language radio and television speaking on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves. I also give workshops and write and deliver a fair number of speeches to other pro-lifers in effort to encourage them to fight the good fight.

The articles, the speeches, and the workshops always come with an urgent plea: Do what you can to help save lives.

Most recently I played a small role in the fight to help save Terri Schindler Schiavo's life. I spent nearly two months during the terribly cyclonic summer of 2004 in southwest Florida working with Spanish-language papers and radio and television stations to both educate on the importance and sanctity of all human life and to also illustrate how Terri's valiant fight showed the need for us to have a "Will To Live" and/or an advanced directive.

You could then make a safe assumption that, because of my involvement in the pro-life movement, and my acute awareness of how terribly important it is to have one of these documents, that I would of course have one of my own--signed and notarized and copied and ready to go in case of an emergency. WRONG! Thursday, October 27 began as quite an ordinary day for me. It was my daughter's long day at school and I had been working on an article for NRL News on the upcoming vote on the legalization of abortion in Columbia. My research on the Columbia article was interrupted by the normal daily phone calls but it was really an uneventful day. The night, however, was anything but.

At around 9:00 p.m., I was home alone, waiting for my daughter to return home from her study group. I grabbed a banana from my kitchen table and headed downstairs to the basement to watch a bit of television.

I had not quite peeled the fruit and taken a seat on the sofa, when from out of nowhere I could have sworn someone had taken a sledgehammer and beaten it across my chest. I dropped the banana and reached for the phone. I was doubled over in agony as the pain then began to radiate to my back. I managed to call my daughter and leave her a message on her voice mail.

I went upstairs and chewed three aspirins and reached for what I thought was my cell phone. I was, however, so disoriented that when my daughter walked in a few minutes later, she found me trying to dial 911 on my television's remote control.

I slumped out to the driveway and into her car. She sped me to the emergency room of Bronson Methodist Hospital here in Kalamazoo, Michigan. As we approached the hospital, I felt another round of pain and almost passed out. In that instant I realized, I had never filled out a Will to Live, and I had no advance directive.

We pulled up to the ER entrance and I was helped inside while my daughter parked her car. After almost 90 minutes of evaluation, including several blood tests and a CT scan, the medical team determined that I had suffered bilateral pulmonary emboli. Blood clots had exploded into each of my lungs. I was immediately pumped with anti-coagulants and pain medicine.

It was a long night to be sure, but by Friday morning I was stabilized. On Sunday morning I was well enough to be sent home after what every doctor I saw said was a very close call. That is a nicely stated euphemism for "I could have died."

I didn't die, and I owe that to modern medicine, a highly trained and skilled staff, and lots and lots of prayers. However, I would be remiss if I didn't use this "close call" to underscore how important an advance directive is and ask you, dear reader, have you filled out a Will to Live?

I had no warning; some say I was lucky, I think I was blessed. But had I lost consciousness, my 21-year-old daughter might have had a pretty good idea as to what treatment I would want, but what if it were a prolonged hospital stay or worse yet? Who would decide for me since I had left no instruction?

Needless to say I now have an advance directive/Will to Live for Michigan and for Florida (my two home states). This medical ambivalence should not have happened to me. I work for NRLC, I know how important it is for each of us to have these lifesaving documents--but I never took the time to fill them out for me.

Another result of my pulmonary emboli is that I must now wear a medic alert bracelet because of the massive quantities of blood thinner I am on since it would appear that I had spaghetti sauce running through my veins instead of blood.

On the Monday after I came home from the hospital, I went online and did several things. I downloaded two copies of the Will to Live from the NRLC web site and filled them both out and had them signed as instructed. I also ordered my medic alert bracelet.

The online application for the $22 bracelet asked for my name, and what medicines I was taking. Easy enough. But then it also gives space to include allergies and what other drugs you take without any additional cost. It occurred to me that, if I were to ever again find myself in a situation where I could not speak for myself, the medic alert bracelet could serve an even greater purpose than simply to let a doctor know that I am on blood thinners.

With the help of Burke Balch, director of NRLC's Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics, we came up with a phrase that is now engraved on the back of my bracelet. On the front is listed my name and the name of the blood thinner I am on. Then in bold letters it says: SEE BACK. On the reverse side is engraved:

I WANT ALL TREATMENT
SEE ADVANCE DIRECTIVE

If you or a loved one happens to be one of the millions of people who wear a medic alert bracelet, I would also urge you to please help make an EMT or ER doctor aware that you have a directive and that you want all treatment by having it engraved on your bracelet.

I thank you all for the cards, calls, flowers, and prayers. My prognosis is good.

If you haven't already done so, please visit the NRLC web site (http://www.nrlc.org/euthanasia/willtolive/index.html) for your Will to Live and fill out your advance directive NOW.