It's easy for me to be on the fence. Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage from a chemical imbalance, possibly from an eating disorder. Well, I don't have an eating disorder so it won't happen to me. Another young woman I read about stayed in a persistent vegetative state from mixing Valium and alcohol. I have no ambition to try that so it won't happen to me. Yet another woman suffered severe brain damage when ejected from her car during an accident. Nope, not me, I always wear my seatbelt.
Today, I read the story of Edwarda O'Bara in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The story was about the different choices two mother's of children in persistent vegetative states made. One mother chose to end the tube feed that kept her son alive for years, the other, to continue the tube feed. I know the decision I would make for myself but for my children, well, that's much more difficult.
What made me connect to Edwarda O'Bara were the circumstances that took her into severe brain damage. For over twenty years, I heard all about the risks and dangers of diabetes. I know the damage high blood sugars can do to my body; I know the problems the low ones can bring. Over years of uncontrolled blood sugars, I know what to expect.
One of the many risks of both high and low blood sugars is passing out and possibly slipping into a coma. I passed out from a low twelve years ago and swore that it would never happen again, and it hasn't so far. What never worried me in a million years was the possibility of a coma. I've watched all the movies. I know what happens. A person goes into a coma for a few weeks, years if one is unfortunate, then miraculously, one wakes up and starts rehab. Right?
Edwarda O'Bara doesn't live in the movies. She was simply a sixteen-year-old girl with diabetes. One day, her parents didn't worry she was sleeping late. The article hinted she had had the flu. Unfortunately, Edwarda was going into a diabetic coma due to high glucose levels. Her heart stopped and her brain starved of oxygen. Edwarda entered into a persistent vegetative state.
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