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Monday, July 18, 2011

Suddenly Stressed

I woke up on this Monday morning, and felt very good. I even got on the treadmill and did 35 minutes at mostly a 4.0 pace. This is an accomplishment, mostly because I haven't exercised in months. I used to do 5 miles a day for awhile. I got stressed and tired and stopped. It was like I saw a STOP sign and I put the brakes on.


I was doing laundry, making my bed, and all those things that seem to always need attention, at least on a weekly basis. Then the telephone rang and my step mom told me something that I didn't want to hear. She said that the doctor who was treating my Dad for cleaning his diabetic wounds, decided that my Dad's foot should be amputated.


All of a sudden my throat started to close up, and I started feeling sick. One moment can change everything, and yet we live like we have forever. I guess we do that to stay sane. Anyway, needless to say; I was upset...very upset.


At this point I need to explain my father's condition. He is 80 years old, has diabetes, a shunt in his head, heart disease, and many other medical issues. He is in a nursing home and is in bed most of the time. When he gets moved by a ho yer lift, and put in a geriatric chair, he lays there, unable to feed or dress himself. He is dependent on those around him to fill his every need.

He responds to certain things and recognizes me when I see him. I thank g-d for that, but he has no quality of life.


Now a surgeon steps in and feels his leg needs amputation! He must be kidding me. My Dad has no quality of life now, and they want to put him through surgery...I don't think so! I feel that many doctors operate when they don't have to. I remember when I worked in a proprietary hospital and a surgeon wanted to operate on a 88 year old women because she had the beginning stages of breast cancer. The family refused, and rightfully so. Why operate on an elderly person is it's not going to improve their life. There is one answer to the question...Money.


This got me very upset. I don't want to put my father through anymore surgeries. He has had enough of them. He is not in any pain now, and is comfortable. I refuse to make his life any worse than it has been.


The morals of this story is you must speak up when you feel something is not being done right. Another moral is life can change on a dime, so appreciate those you have; good or bad. The last one is how people respond to stress. For me, my throat closes up, I get TMJ, or my back goes out. I think we all have physical ailments that act up when we are stressed.


In closing, I want to thank you for listening, and I hope we can all can understand how pressure can affect our physical bodies and our mental outlook. I found that I needed to absorb everything first, and then make sense of it. Writing this has helped me, and I thank you for listening.


Debbie

Talking to you, from TalktoDeb

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