What to Do With Your Advance Directive

If you already have an advance directive, but you decide that you want it to say something different, then change it.

Write a new one, give copies to your family, your friends, your doctor, and the hospital you're most likely to be brought to. Tell them to throw out the old one.

Having advance directives gives the family your message when you are no longer able to express the message. It gives them the license to say to the doctor, "Do everything you can to keep my father comfortable, but don't prolong his life artificially with tube feedings and antibiotics."