I
don’t and I refuse to. I’ll leave that up to someone else. Which means
doctors are screwed. This is why… While I was in coma- closed eye, then
open, I was given Persistent Vegetative State. A bit later, I am
communicating with the doctor by blinking for "yes/no." They already said I
was vegetative and had submitted forms. I was made vegetative, and a
payee paid my bills. Communicating with the doctor in this way was Minimally Conscious State (MCS) and I was most likely Locked-In.
I understood what was told to me, but it was difficult to give any response at all, even blinking. I have a BA in psychology. This area was covered. I was familiar with terms. More amazing. I have an MA in Special Education from San Francisco State University. I specialized in neurologically impaired infants.
I knew what a brain bleed was. I knew what lobes of the brain were. I knew that when a bleed as bad as mine kills off all the cells in all four lobes that I shouldn't be understanding. I knew I was dying. I couldn't respond. I figured I'd die soon.
The payee was late. Doctors didn’t get their money. They screwed themselves. I could blink to family members to pay doctor bills. They managed to drop the payee, so I could pay bills, but I’m left vegetative. I should have been diagnosed Locked-In Syndrome. I am flat-out in a stone-cold coma between the first and second hospitals. You don't diagnose that at that time. The blinking came a bit later at the second hospital. I get stuck with "vegetative".
I understood what was told to me, but it was difficult to give any response at all, even blinking. I have a BA in psychology. This area was covered. I was familiar with terms. More amazing. I have an MA in Special Education from San Francisco State University. I specialized in neurologically impaired infants.
I knew what a brain bleed was. I knew what lobes of the brain were. I knew that when a bleed as bad as mine kills off all the cells in all four lobes that I shouldn't be understanding. I knew I was dying. I couldn't respond. I figured I'd die soon.
The payee was late. Doctors didn’t get their money. They screwed themselves. I could blink to family members to pay doctor bills. They managed to drop the payee, so I could pay bills, but I’m left vegetative. I should have been diagnosed Locked-In Syndrome. I am flat-out in a stone-cold coma between the first and second hospitals. You don't diagnose that at that time. The blinking came a bit later at the second hospital. I get stuck with "vegetative".
Years later I’m still "vegetative". I now talk. My diagnosis should be quadriplegia with some movement. I answer tons of questions like this one. I am no where near short of knowledge. My cognition is not compromised.
My diagnosis can’t be changed. The diagnosis became permanent after 3 months. Now research can’t be done. You can’t get consent from a not conscious person. People in comas don't get much of anything. They don't ask for anything. Vegetative probably isn't coma, but it is classified that way.
I’ve pretty much always disagreed with how a diagnosis becomes a label. This is that MA in Special Education. I see the diagnosis as a starting point and you grow from it. This means it can change. I’m not vegetative anymore.
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