My reaction to those fears was to do the only thing truly in my control (besides quitting smoking, starting walking, blowing up balloons and taking vitamins) - to put my husband's and my affairs in order - we updated our wills, put our house in a trust, did powers of attorney for each other - and that frankly gave me more peace of mind than anything else.
Yes, I was an attorney with an outdated will, no trust, and a prenup still in place that was put there 5 years previously when I married a man I had only known for 6 months (so my friends and parents wouldn't kill me). It had outlived its usefulness, plus all my earnings had been in CA, which is a community property state, and we'd bought a house. We were seriously in need of updating.
And even if you have a will, let me remind everyone to look it over every once in a while. Is your executor still alive? Are you still speaking to him or her? What about your kids' guardians? Did you buy property or come into an inheritance? Do you want things updated?? We did that a couple of years ago (it had been 7+ years since the previous update), and it was important! My daughter is now mature enough to be executor; my father should no longer be in charge of our stuff, and his care needs to be accounted for, just in case, etc. Now that there are grandchildren, we may need to adjust things again.
All these things give you something positive to worry about and do before surgery - AND you will feel such a sense of peace when you get them done!
Yes, I was an attorney with an outdated will, no trust, and a prenup still in place that was put there 5 years previously when I married a man I had only known for 6 months (so my friends and parents wouldn't kill me). It had outlived its usefulness, plus all my earnings had been in CA, which is a community property state, and we'd bought a house. We were seriously in need of updating.
And even if you have a will, let me remind everyone to look it over every once in a while. Is your executor still alive? Are you still speaking to him or her? What about your kids' guardians? Did you buy property or come into an inheritance? Do you want things updated?? We did that a couple of years ago (it had been 7+ years since the previous update), and it was important! My daughter is now mature enough to be executor; my father should no longer be in charge of our stuff, and his care needs to be accounted for, just in case, etc. Now that there are grandchildren, we may need to adjust things again.
All these things give you something positive to worry about and do before surgery - AND you will feel such a sense of peace when you get them done!
