Looking back and forward
I was in no place to know what my rights were when the decision came to getting an ICD. Having one or not having one was never presented as an option, not as an either or, it was presented as you get this or you die. I had no desire to die permanently.
Knowing then what I know now, I may have chosen differently. Would I have been so blasé about getting one the first time or getting the second and third one? Not on my life. Blasé would not have existed. Informed, participatory care would have been the order of the day.
My case has been a disaster: actually one disaster after another throughout this whole thing. People tell me all the time I'm negative, I'm actually not, I'm just willing to talk about the complications that can happen, because most people don't survive the complications.
Knowledge is power. I want everyone to make informed decisions, to know as many facts as possible, not to make decisions based on half disclosed information. Not to base decisions on trust, when really trust doesn't exist.
That's my point of view from my experience. That's all I can base it on.
Knowing then what I know now, I may have chosen differently. Would I have been so blasé about getting one the first time or getting the second and third one? Not on my life. Blasé would not have existed. Informed, participatory care would have been the order of the day.
My case has been a disaster: actually one disaster after another throughout this whole thing. People tell me all the time I'm negative, I'm actually not, I'm just willing to talk about the complications that can happen, because most people don't survive the complications.
Knowledge is power. I want everyone to make informed decisions, to know as many facts as possible, not to make decisions based on half disclosed information. Not to base decisions on trust, when really trust doesn't exist.
That's my point of view from my experience. That's all I can base it on.
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