Grandma has left most of the medical decisions for the family to decide. But, because she is still mentally sharp and aware, we have been keeping her involved in the major medical and care decisions. From the hospital, we had doctors and family sit with her to explain her condition and help her to understand what was going on, and now that we are in a nursing home, the pastoral care and social work team helped us to take the step further. Today, she was involved in her advanced care planning, sharing with us how she would like to be treated in the event she needed medical assistance, would she want CPR that may lead to an ICU stay, would she want to pass away without medical intervention? How would she like her funeral to be conducted? These are all difficult questions that will face all of us in an ageing population, but we have address them. In a way, grandma is lucky she can make those decisions and when the time comes, we can act according to her wishes. Essentially, she doesn't want pain, no tubes, no injections, no prolonging of her life if she is no longer able to do it herself. I am amazed by her strength as she addressed each of the questions posed in a calm manner, and at times, funny too. eg. Why would I want vegetarian food at the funeral, I don't really like that when I am alive. Or, actually, you guys can decide for me, I won't be around by then. Its just her trying to inject some humour into the situation, but thats her, always laughing, smiling. Having some fun with whatever card that life deals us. Humorously, she told the pastoral care team, would you like me to sign any documents?