McHENRY Sitting in a hospital bed at Centegra Hospital McHenry, a hospital chaplain walked 84-year-old Teresa Guardi through the different life-sustaining measures the hospital can take ventilators, dialysis, CPR and feeding tubes.

At my age, why should I care about a ventilator? the Island Lake resident asked.

Mom, you could live to be 100, her daughter, Pamela Guardi, said from her seat near the door.

I dont want to live to be 100, she responded. All my friends would be gone, and young people dont want to deal with it.

What she did want was to only be treated with these methods if the gain outweighed the harm and if she was likely to come out of the treatment with a good quality of life, hospital chaplain Dena Battaglia found out as she walked Guardi through the form granting her daughter the power of attorney over her health care if shes ever unable to communicate her own decisions

I want to be independent, Guardi told Battaglia. Theres so many things in life that I still want to discover.

As a hospital chaplain for the past 11 years, Battaglia has these conversations all the time.

Every time someone over the age of 18 is admitted to one of Centegras hospitals, theyre asked if they have an advanced medical directive and if they dont, whether theyd be interested in filling one out.

Thats how Battaglia ended up in Guardis room.

Guardi had gone to the emergency room over concerns that several days worth of diarrhea was dehydrating her, she said. When she was admitted, she was asked those questions and then offered help in filling one out.

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McHenry County health care providers emphasize end-of-life care