It didn’t help.
Then, CAT scans showed that the parts of Joy’s brain that had died from lack of oxygen were turning to liquid and being absorbed by her body. Her brain was shrinking.
To watch your child go through this and know there is NOTHING you can do –
Imagine your worst nightmare – then wishing it were only that.
It is indescribable. Words can’t touch the pain.
After 6 months Joy started having seizures. She would be laying in bed and suddenly her arms and her legs (which had removable casts on them to try to prevent drop foot, and were extremely heavy), would shoot out to the sides shaking, hitting the steel railings. I lined her hospital bed with stuffed toys so she wouldn’t hurt herself. Then I went to her doctors and agreed to sign the no-code.
But Joy’s mom refused. A nurse told me she heard her say that she was suing the recliner chair company (we both had law suits with different lawyers) and her attorney had told her that the chair company would have to pay for 30 – 40 years of medical care after a settlement or trial. Since Joy was in a vegetative state she didn’t think she was suffering and she was going to wait till the lawsuit was settled to make a decision.
This was in 1985 and without both parents signature there was nothing I could do (this was before you could go to court and get an order to discontinue life support).
The horror continued.
Joy started getting pneumonia. Her lungs had to be suctioned to clear them of mucus because she couldn’t cough or sneeze. This involved inserting a tiny tube that was attached to a vacuum. You continuously twirled it between your fingers while it was in her lungs so it wouldn’t stick to the lung’s lining. The problem was Joy couldn’t breathe while this was happening. So I would hold my breath as she was being suctioned and when it became uncomfortable for me I would tell (scream) at the respiratory therapist to bag her, give her air. They would reply, “She doesn’t understand, she doesn’t feel anything.”
I started suctioning her after that.
No Comments on "Charlie G. Story – Pt. 3"