Aug 31, 2008
I am shocked by a news article I came across on Yahoo! News the other day. A 65-year-old triathlete, Barbara Warren, fell off her bike and broke her neck during a competition last Saturday (the 23rd). Last Tuesday, the 26th, her family – twin sister, husband, two grown daughters – took her off the ventilator because Barbara repeatedly blinked her eyes and nodded when asked if she wanted to die.
3 days after her accident they pull the plug! Sorry to sound crass, but I find that upsetting! That is hardly enough time for her to know how much functionality she will regain, what she can still accomplish in her life. Was she a victim of the fictional Million Dollar Baby?
Those of you who followed this blog, particularly in its first four months, April-July 2006, know how closely I was involved in Gary’s rehab after the car accident that severed his spine (at the T4 level, which left him completely paralyzed from nipple-level down). And hopefully in relating our experiences at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, it came across that both paraplegics and quadriplegics can make great strides during their rehabilitation and go on to live full, meaningful, fulfilling lives. But goodness, it took Gary 2 months to recover from the accident to the point where he could even begin rehab. And I’d like to here mention again that some of the quads at Shepherd recovered functioning they were never expected to have. You just can’t know what your ultimate situation with your injuries is going to be after 3 days. And if you have the worst possible injury, C1 complete, then you can look to Christopher Reeve as your role model.
It is no surprise one's first reaction to finding oneself in this situation would be shock, hopelessness, and depression. I cannot help but suspect that Barbara’s decision to die, and her family’s quick follow-through only three days in, was in part out of lack awareness of the possibilities.
I am so grateful Gary had knowledgeable people guiding him like those at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta.
To see the article on Barbara, here are some links. I’m giving you the links that I found that allow you to leave a comment (you may have to sign up for a free account to post your own comment). Most of the people seemed to think it was just fine for her to make this rapid decision, some even compare it to the Schiavo case. Ignorance, to my mind! There are also comments made, some by her family members, that Barbara wouldn't have wanted to be "just a bystander in life." Well, my hat is off to those quadriplegics and paraplegics who don't regard themselves -- and don't want to be regarded as -- bystanders in life.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/article?f=/n/a/2008/08/28/sports/s101058D00.DTL
and
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/obit_track_warren
In other news, Gary recently went for his check-up in Atlanta. He’s doing well, except his doctor (who you may recall is also a paraplegic with a higher level of injury than Gary, being T1 complete) made fun of Gary for still having his “training wheels” on – meaning the tip bars. I told Gary he should have told the doctor that I wouldn’t let him take them off (though Gary has no desire too). And speaking of falling . . . they said it WOULD happen, and it did. Gary managed to go for 2 ½ years without ever falling out of his chair, but recently he did. Fortunately, at home, so he slid his way over to the futon couch and got himself back up on that. Couldn’t do the floor-to-wheelchair transfer, so he’ll have to put that higher on his list of things to practice ;-). And I won’t mention him falling out of my bed . . . . :-D
Gary has developed a bit of scoliosis and saw a spine specialist in Atlanta. It’s not severe, though. He then went to the “seating clinic” at Shepherd, and they’re going to get him a different kind of seat cushion that will hopefully enable him to sit straighter in his chair.
I am shocked by a news article I came across on Yahoo! News the other day. A 65-year-old triathlete, Barbara Warren, fell off her bike and broke her neck during a competition last Saturday (the 23rd). Last Tuesday, the 26th, her family – twin sister, husband, two grown daughters – took her off the ventilator because Barbara repeatedly blinked her eyes and nodded when asked if she wanted to die.
3 days after her accident they pull the plug! Sorry to sound crass, but I find that upsetting! That is hardly enough time for her to know how much functionality she will regain, what she can still accomplish in her life. Was she a victim of the fictional Million Dollar Baby?
Those of you who followed this blog, particularly in its first four months, April-July 2006, know how closely I was involved in Gary’s rehab after the car accident that severed his spine (at the T4 level, which left him completely paralyzed from nipple-level down). And hopefully in relating our experiences at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, it came across that both paraplegics and quadriplegics can make great strides during their rehabilitation and go on to live full, meaningful, fulfilling lives. But goodness, it took Gary 2 months to recover from the accident to the point where he could even begin rehab. And I’d like to here mention again that some of the quads at Shepherd recovered functioning they were never expected to have. You just can’t know what your ultimate situation with your injuries is going to be after 3 days. And if you have the worst possible injury, C1 complete, then you can look to Christopher Reeve as your role model.
It is no surprise one's first reaction to finding oneself in this situation would be shock, hopelessness, and depression. I cannot help but suspect that Barbara’s decision to die, and her family’s quick follow-through only three days in, was in part out of lack awareness of the possibilities.
I am so grateful Gary had knowledgeable people guiding him like those at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta.
To see the article on Barbara, here are some links. I’m giving you the links that I found that allow you to leave a comment (you may have to sign up for a free account to post your own comment). Most of the people seemed to think it was just fine for her to make this rapid decision, some even compare it to the Schiavo case. Ignorance, to my mind! There are also comments made, some by her family members, that Barbara wouldn't have wanted to be "just a bystander in life." Well, my hat is off to those quadriplegics and paraplegics who don't regard themselves -- and don't want to be regarded as -- bystanders in life.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/article?f=/n/a/2008/08/28/sports/s101058D00.DTL
and
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/obit_track_warren
In other news, Gary recently went for his check-up in Atlanta. He’s doing well, except his doctor (who you may recall is also a paraplegic with a higher level of injury than Gary, being T1 complete) made fun of Gary for still having his “training wheels” on – meaning the tip bars. I told Gary he should have told the doctor that I wouldn’t let him take them off (though Gary has no desire too). And speaking of falling . . . they said it WOULD happen, and it did. Gary managed to go for 2 ½ years without ever falling out of his chair, but recently he did. Fortunately, at home, so he slid his way over to the futon couch and got himself back up on that. Couldn’t do the floor-to-wheelchair transfer, so he’ll have to put that higher on his list of things to practice ;-). And I won’t mention him falling out of my bed . . . . :-D
Gary has developed a bit of scoliosis and saw a spine specialist in Atlanta. It’s not severe, though. He then went to the “seating clinic” at Shepherd, and they’re going to get him a different kind of seat cushion that will hopefully enable him to sit straighter in his chair.
posted by Peg Daniels at 11:37 AM
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