I believe...

One of the running themes you can see in this blog is the inability of people to grasp the truth/reality of a situation and deal with it appropriately.  Family members are by far the most guilty of this.  Some would call that a testament to the human spirit.  I would call it a blindness to reality.  Take the following guy, for instance...

I recently explained to a man that his mother's dysphagia had progressed to the point that she wouldn't be able to eat through her mouth anymore.  Additionally, she was so weak from lack of nutrition that she could not walk.  In what I thought was a well-understood conversation, I gave the man the options of either placing a feeding tube and feeding her in that manner or feeding her what she wanted with the understanding that half of it would go into her lungs, causing pneumonia.  It's a fairly common scenario.  In the latter instance, I usually suggest hospice care as it's only a matter of time before they develop a fatal pneumonia.  The man stated that he understood and that he wanted to talk to someone about placing a feeding tube.  I put in the consult and left for the day.  The next day when I arrived on the floor, the plan had evidently changed, as the man had sent the GI doc away and claimed he would feed her today (by mouth) and have her walking by this afternoon.  I chuckled when the nurse told me this and asked her to call me so I could find out how that worked out.

Nurse:  "Ok, well, he tried to get her to walk a few minutes ago."

Me:  "How'd that turn out?"

Nurse:  "He immediately dropped her in the floor.  I think she hit her head."

Me:  "He might as well have pushed her out the window and asked her to fly."

Nurse:  "Yeah."

Me:  "And the feeding?"

Nurse:  "He gave her a few spoonfuls before she started coughing and turning blue."

Me:  "So now what does he want?"

Nurse:  "He thinks she'll get better at rehab."

I refrained from asking if they take Smurfs at rehab.

#lalalalalalaaa...