In a Coma With No Will and No Power of Attorney | Jura Virkutyte
A collapsed lung, a coma, and a cancer diagnosis, and not one document in place for the family waiting outside the ICU.In this episode, Dr. Jura Virkutyte, environmental health scientist and software QA and product lead on the ENDevo team, joins host Niki Weiss to talk about what incapacity does to a family that never planned, why people refuse to hear the conversation until a diagnosis forces it, and what it finally took for her to build her own plan.In this episode:The symptoms Jura dismissed as stress, and the morning her lungs collapsedWaking from a coma with no will, no power of attorney, and passwords never discussedWhy incapacity, not death, is the planning gap: phones, bills, accounts and medical decisions while you are still aliveThe logistics that hit first: who takes care of the kids, the dog, the rides and an aging parentWhy people block out the conversation, and the catch-22 of trying to plan only after a diagnosis"Oh by the way, you have cancer," and why the diagnosis didn't register when she could finally breatheA grapefruit-sized mass, a one percent chance, and the rolling-wave miracle at the bedsideWhy QA matters when end-of-life planning tools go into enterprise wellness programsWhat a survivor noticed testing the process: small steps, no deadline, nothing that threatensWhy the plan has to include your spouse and family, and her two takeaways: start it and finish it, and stop being afraid to talk about deathAbout Jura:Dr. Jura Virkutyte is a Lithuanian-born environmental health scientist with a PhD from Finland who has held professorships in Finland and Australia and researched the health effects of nanomaterials in the United States. After several years as a technical product owner and QA lead for health and software companies, she joined the ENDevo team to help build My Final Playbook. A 2023 cancer diagnosis turned her research skills on a problem closer to home: what a family actually has to do when someone dies or is suddenly incapacitated.Live fully, die ready.Start your plan and take the free assessment: https://finalplaybook.com/main-pageDownload the My Final Playbook app:Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/my-final-playbook/id6791298756Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=endevo.life.finalplaybookDisclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only and does not provide medical, legal or financial advice. Views expressed by the host and guests are their own. Always consult qualified professionals before making decisions.
