Saturday, November 27, 2010

Give Up

"She will most likely be a vegetable if she comes out."  Out of a coma that is.  I remember that.  It's hard to forget.  I also remember hearing a loud buzzer.  I wanted to turn off my alarm clock because I was having a good sleep.  I later found out it was the alarm on my ventilator.

I did wake up, and I could think.  Unusual.

So the vegetable thing never should have been said.  One time, a nurse in a hospital told me if a person is there and they can't communicate, they give up.  I understood this. I was slowly getting my ability to talk back, but it was very slow.  I could easily see someone giving up.  While there, I remember a patient-an older man who the nurses called "Doctor".  He had had a stroke.  You could see in his eyes he understood, but he couldn't talk.  He would have understood "vegetable" and what it would entail.  I think he gave up.  He died.

What Kind of Vegetable Am I?

updated 4/21/2015

The link changed. The article is p. 8 of the magazine, but on p. 9 of the browser. http://www.strokeassociation.org/idc/groups/stroke-public/@wcm/@hcm/@mag/documents/downloadable/ucm_463065.pdf



 
 
 Click the link to go to the on-line magazine. The article is on p.8 of the magazine. It will enlarge for you.