What if it's serious but not an end of life issue? I have never called 911 for myself but I hope that I will if it's necessary. Or I just think it's necessary and it turns out to be something trivial.
This morning I began reading Jill Bolte Taylor's book, My Stroke of Insight. Jill is a Harvard trained expert on the brain but when, at age 37, she has a massive stroke, she does all sorts of things before she calls for help, including taking a shower and getting dressed for work. (This seems like something I would do.)
In fact, I was almost laughing to myself as I was reading this description of all that happened to Jill's brain before she decided to make the call.
But it's not funny.
In time, Jill's brain was so disintegrated that she couldn't dial 911. She finally called a colleague. She was unable to speak intelligibly but, fortunately he recognized her voice. Then she fixated on something else to which I could totally relate. Jill says:
Yet even in this discombobulated state, I felt a nagging obligation to contact my doctor. It was obvious that I would need emergency treatment that would probably be very expensive, and what a sad commentary that even in this disjointed mentality, I knew enough to be worried that my HMO might not cover my costs in the event that I went to the wrong health center for care.
The book is by and about brain scientist, Jill Bolte Taylor, having a devastating stroke and her (eight year) road to complete recovery.
I hope, that if I think I'm having a stroke, I'll call 911, even before I take a shower and dress for success.
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