Beyond Prozac

This was elective surgery. She didn't have to have it. She knew that people require physical therapy after knee replacement surgery and must get up and walk if they wish to ever regain the use of their knee. Knowing all of this, after the surgery she refused to budge. If a physical therapist even dared talk to her, she would scream obscenities. If anyone touched her, she would start swinging. We would joke that she needed prozac, but she was beyond prozac, she needed a pre-frontal lobotomy.

The situation was complicated by her incontinence. She just lay flat on her back in her own pee and poop. We don't like for patients to do this. It's hard on the skin and can quickly lead to pressure ulcers, not to mention that we don't care for the smell. Even though she was not confused, she would not allow us to turn her so that we could clean her up and change the sheets. We tried drugging her within an inch of her life so that we could clean her, but she was strong and would punch anyone within punching distance. After one unpleasant episode where a nurse got slugged in the boobs and cried, we decided that was it. She could just lie in her waste and have her skin eaten away by acid.

The day finally came when she was transferred to a "home" because there was nothing more that we could do for her and she was taking up a valuable bed. The shrieking and cursing was unreal when the men loaded her onto the gurney to take her away. My guess is that she'll be dead within a year unless she decides to start moving around. I don't know why they agree to do elective surgery on people like that.