Stubborn aunt hurts her family
Jul. 30th, 2007 12:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wildravenI have an aunt who has been notoriously stubborn all her life.
She is that aunt who embarrasses you with comments at Thanksgiving about those people who need to learn English or those people stealing our jobs. She loved to listen to Rush Limgaugh and never worked outside of the home ever.
My uncle is a good person and their daughter is semi-special needs.
They recently moved to Florida.
She was diagnosed with MS but refused to take anything to help.
She was diagnosed with diabetes but refused to either alter her diet or take her meds.
She was told she has high cholesterol but refused to take any meds to help.
Then Saturday both her arms went numb and she had pain in her chest.
My cousin called her father who was closing on the old house up here in Boston. He told her to call 911.
My aunt refused to call 911 and insisted my cousin could just drive her to the hospital.
She got there and had to wait in the waiting room for almost 30 minutes before someone looked at her.
They finally took her in and put her into a waiting room. While in the waiting room, my cousin finally called in a nurse because her Mom didn't "look good." She was passed out with her tongue hanging out of her mouth.
The nurse called the doctor and they realized she had had a heart attack.
She had no pulse but they successfully revived her.
They med-flighted her to Tampa (and a real hospital) where they did emergency surgery.
Two days later, she has yet to wake up from the surgery. They are bringing in a neurologist to determine if she has brain damage from the lack of oxygen.
Had she called 911 and not insisted she was fine enough to ride in a car, they would have taken her right in. Ambulance people can take vitals and determine if you are having a heart attack. She would not have had to wait 45 minutes in the hospital before a doctor finally said "shit, she's having a heart attack!"
It's one thing to be stubborn for yourself. It's another to possibly injure yourself that badly, hurting your husband and your daughter.
Just once in her life, I wish she had listened to someone else.
I'm angry at her for doing 3, 4, even 5 different things that helped cause this situation.
I understand now why they tell us at CPR class to CALL 911! Don't drive the person in.
I'm angry.
She is that aunt who embarrasses you with comments at Thanksgiving about those people who need to learn English or those people stealing our jobs. She loved to listen to Rush Limgaugh and never worked outside of the home ever.
My uncle is a good person and their daughter is semi-special needs.
They recently moved to Florida.
She was diagnosed with MS but refused to take anything to help.
She was diagnosed with diabetes but refused to either alter her diet or take her meds.
She was told she has high cholesterol but refused to take any meds to help.
Then Saturday both her arms went numb and she had pain in her chest.
My cousin called her father who was closing on the old house up here in Boston. He told her to call 911.
My aunt refused to call 911 and insisted my cousin could just drive her to the hospital.
She got there and had to wait in the waiting room for almost 30 minutes before someone looked at her.
They finally took her in and put her into a waiting room. While in the waiting room, my cousin finally called in a nurse because her Mom didn't "look good." She was passed out with her tongue hanging out of her mouth.
The nurse called the doctor and they realized she had had a heart attack.
She had no pulse but they successfully revived her.
They med-flighted her to Tampa (and a real hospital) where they did emergency surgery.
Two days later, she has yet to wake up from the surgery. They are bringing in a neurologist to determine if she has brain damage from the lack of oxygen.
Had she called 911 and not insisted she was fine enough to ride in a car, they would have taken her right in. Ambulance people can take vitals and determine if you are having a heart attack. She would not have had to wait 45 minutes in the hospital before a doctor finally said "shit, she's having a heart attack!"
It's one thing to be stubborn for yourself. It's another to possibly injure yourself that badly, hurting your husband and your daughter.
Just once in her life, I wish she had listened to someone else.
I'm angry at her for doing 3, 4, even 5 different things that helped cause this situation.
I understand now why they tell us at CPR class to CALL 911! Don't drive the person in.
I'm angry.
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no subject
Date: 2007-07-30 05:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-30 05:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-30 07:36 pm (UTC)So. Somewhat related, my grandmother (father's mother) had what we think was a heart attack and ended up being driven to the hospital because she was utterly petrified of ambulances. When they tried to get her into one, her condition got worse because she was so anxious and scared. In the end, her kids drove her to the hospital (where she died) because they thought getting her into an ambulance would be at least as likely to kill her as the delay in getting to the hospital by driving. And this way, she wasn't terrified when she died. But that fear came out of decades spent dealing with racist health care system, not sheer stubbornness. Also, it's a really brutal decision to make, and I know her children still struggle with guilt over that decision decades later.
Which is to say, I'll totally hug you when next i see you. Extra hugging I mean.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-31 02:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-31 02:37 am (UTC)