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My mother passed away last night in the hospital.  It came as a surprise as she had been doing well at noon when I fed her all her lunch.  They had removed her IV medicines and she started an internal bleed at the site.  The Doctor spoke to us and told us how critical she was. She was in terrible pain and on morphine in those last few hours, I don't think her weak heart could stand the strain.  RIP mom.

My sister's in a bit of a shock, she said 'we're orphans now'.  I said yes, but we are in our fifties!

When my mother went into emergency, the term Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) came up. We did not have a clear understanding of what that means and I learned the following:

If the heart or breathing stops a DNR request can be made by the health care power of attorney to allow natural death (AND).  This new term is more popular.  DNR only affects intubation and CPR.  The patient can continue treatment with drugs, etc.

My sister and I had a power of attorney for health care and for property for my mother.  It's a big responsibility.  In fact I used that power to sign for a blood transfusion for her in what turned out to be her last hours.

Do you have these documents for yourself, it's a good thing.