Bob
Bob is a 76-year-old man with heart failure. Bob’s wife died 6 years ago and he has 3 children.
Advance Care Planning for Bob involves clarifying his SDM, learning about his illness and thinking about his values.
His automatic SDMs would be all of his children together. However his children do not get along so after reviewing the role of the SDM, he decides to appoint his middle son as Attorney for Personal Care.
Bob doesn’t know if heart disease is something that can be cured. No one has told him whether his heart function will return back to normal. This was the first time Bob was admitted to hospital. He isn’t sure if he should expect to have more admissions to hospital for his heart failure in the future. It is important for both Bob and his SDM to understand more about his heart failure and what to expect so they can prepare for the future.
For Bob, "life isn't worth living unless I have my independence". When Bob thinks of losing his independence, he pictures his brother Jim in the intensive care unit and how he never fully recovered. Jim needed help with everything.