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Living Will/Testament

 This page contains links to brief statements regarding the disposition of my body, my health, and my possessions in the event that this information is needed.  I am making it publicly available here, in the light of the Terri Schiavo fiasco, so that there can later be no disputing what my wishes are.

Paper documents which are signed and witnessed can be found in my white filing cabinet in my home office.

Organ Donor Statement

I am a registered organ donor in the state of Ohio.  You have only to check out my drivers' license.  It has the sticker.  I have a copy of the registration signed in my file.  Any and all useful organs may be harvested at the time of death and donated to anyone who can make better use of them.

Living Will Statement

With respect to extraordinary measures, I am comfortable with all methods of revival available be used, up until the point that complete recovery becomes unlikely.  I am not a gambler; by unlikely, I mean less than 50%.  When it is clear that my brain has been without oxygen long enough to be damaged, efforts to revive me to consciousness should cease.  I believe strongly that medicine should be about keeping people well, not merely keeping them alive.

I confess that it is my worst nightmare to wake up from a terrible injury and discover that my intellectual capacity has been severely diminished.  I consider this the most important  part of myself, and living without it would be unbearable.  Living with physical disability, as long as my ability to communicate remained, I might be able to adjust to; but finding that my IQ had dropped catastrophically--by 40 points or more--would be impossible to accept, even if other people might find this level of ability perfectly normal.  The thought of living through the second half of "Flowers for Algernon" gives me nightmares, literally.

While I direct the hospital not to continue attempts to revive me, they may make an effort to preserve my body in such a state as to maximize the ability of my organs to be used in transplantations.

Disposition of my Possessions/Will & Testament

I haven't really considered this very much.  It is likely to be updated over time.  I am quite certain that since I have no spouse or children at this time that my immediate family would be my heirs by default.  For the time being, I leave everything to my mother, rather than the others.  Friends and family interested in my belongings may petition to her for whatever they'd like.  I suspect that my mother won't know what to do with quite a bit of it.  If anyone has any particular requests they'd like to make ahead of time, then feel free to do so.  Whatever she doesn't want, and goes unclaimed by others, she should feel free to donate to a suitable non-religious charity.

Funeral Requests

I desire that either my body should be donated to science or that I be cremated.  I have always wanted to have my ashes scattered to the Martian winds, although I recognize that this isn't very likely.  I also find attractive a nice traditional Classical Greek funeral pyre, but this may trigger some kind of health code violation, so more modern methods are acceptable.  I do not have any desire for a gravesite.  I should be remembered by my work, and not some silly square of land.

Any memorial service, I would like to be completely non-religious.  If any relative chooses to violate this request, I direct that they not be permitted to receive any of my possessions.

Medical Power of Attorney

I grant medical power of attorney to my mother.  She is aware of my wishes and has promised to carry them out.  The forms are with the others.

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