X-Message-Number: 26013 Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 09:40:33 -0400 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: to Ben Best To Ben Best: You said something in your proposal for a Living Will which (possibly because I didn't read it right) is not only wrong but NOT what you likely want to do. You are not in a vegetative state when you're on life support. It's true that IF you are in vegetative state you will be on life support but they are far from identical. If you are in vegetative state the upper parts of your brain no longer work, or at least doctors can find no evidence, even with CT and MRI scans, that your brain is still working. It's one of those conditions in which most people still don't consider you as dead, but you are still dead. And since the upper parts of your brain are gone, you hardly wish to remain in that state, nor is it likely that any future medicine will revive you. As a cryonicist, you will want to do everything possible to be suspended BEFORE you reach that state. Otherwise there will be no more Ben Best to revive. Yes there are other conditions which can create such states, particular states in which your brain has disappeared while even your relatives resist letting you die (or be suspended) because they believe you're still alive. Advanced brain cancers, Alzheimer's Disease, and other brain conditions fall under that heading. To have a Living Will which asks that you not be suspended if you're in a vegetative state is a MAJOR ERROR. As for the case of being on life support, that one involves judgement about your exact condition. Best wishes and long long life to all, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=26013