More Should Understand This

Dear Ann Landers: I’m writing in response to the letter about the woman with Parkinson’s disease who weighed 65 pounds and was tube-fed for seven years. You indicated that the physician could not legally remove the tube.

In most states today, if a person is competent to make a decision, that person has a legal right to refuse treatment. Artificial nutrition is recognized as a medical treatment. It sounds as if this woman’s doctor didn’t tell the patient about her options. Maybe if she had known, she would have chosen to die sooner.

In my 29 years as a nurse, my experience has been that tube feedings are used most often with patients who have end-stage Alzheimer’s, massive strokes, dementia or terminal cancer. Doctors are often afraid to let people die naturally for fear it will appear that they didn’t “do enough.” Our society fears death, and too many physicians take it as a personal failure if a patient dies. Food is closely tied with nurturing, and families are made to feel that they are uncaring if they don’t allow tube feeding.

The body has a natural way of shutting down during the dying process so that nutritional support is no longer required. Proper care from physicians and nurses can help both patients and their families cope much better with dying. Instead of looking at what treatments are available, we should look at the results of those treatments. For many, the benefits of intervention do not outweigh the burdens. - Certified Death Educator in Dallas

Dear Dallas: You have educated millions of people today on a subject most folks do not wish to think about. I am grateful to you for performing a valuable service for my readers.

Dear Ann Landers: My husband is a mail carrier. He becomes upset when he reads complaints in your column about the “lousy postal service.” I wish more people knew how the system works. Let me explain.

Mail is “read” by an Optical Character Reader. A bar code is imprinted on the envelope, and then it goes through a bar code reader, which in turns puts it in proper delivery order.

Here’s how the public can help ensure prompt delivery: Use plain white envelopes. Colored envelopes can confuse the sorter and cause the envelopes to be kicked out of the machine.

Print or type the address in capital letters, using blue or black ink.

When writing the city and state, do not use any commas or periods. Be sure to use the correct two-letter abbreviation for the state.

Make sure you use the right zip code. If you aren’t sure, call your local post office. They will be happy to assist you.

Make sure your return address is on the envelope. If, for some reason, the letter is incorrectly addressed and you didn’t put your return address on it, it will be placed in a dead-letter file. You can figure out what that means. Think how important that is when paying your bills.

Here’s an extra tip: When mailing a package, cover the address with clear cellophane tape. It prevents the ink from smudging if it gets wet.

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest, Ann. All of us need to take some responsibility for how well the postal system works. - Lake Mary, Fla.

Dear Lake Mary: I learned a lot from you. I’m sure my readers did, too. It never occurred to me to put a cellophane strip over the address on a package, but I will from now on.