GRAND Magazine - Summer 2020 - 12
ask dr. gramma karen
Disagreements about the use of
a ventilator to treat COVID-19
BY KAREN L. RANCOURT
I
one article explained the risks involved when placed
on a ventilator, and a second discussed possible longterm effects with ventilator usage. After digesting these
articles, as well as others I read, I decided I did not want
to be placed on a ventilator. Ever.
"I explained that I did not want
was lying on the floor doing my stretching exercises,
to go to a hospital, I did not want
when all of a sudden, I felt sick with dizziness, nausea,
and overall weakness. My first thought was, "Well, so
to be put on a ventilator..."
much for all the good social distancing has done me. It
got me anyway." It refers to COVID-19. As I was dragI was also thinking about how I had put off sharing
ging myself to my bed, my second thought was, "No this decision with my husband because although we've
ventilator."
been married for 54 years, I wasn't sure how he would
While my husband Gary was taking my temperature, react.
I was thinking about two articles I had recently read:
I soon found out one afternoon on our daily walk
when I told him I wanted to share with him the decisions I had made regarding the coronavirus, should I
contract it. I explained that I did not want to go to a
hospital, I did not want to be put on a ventilator, and
that I wanted to be in my own bed in our own home,
with him holding my hand, while I recovered. Or didn't.
He was very upset with my decisions, telling me
that he always considered me tough and a fighter. I
told him I needed to deal with the coronavirus on my
own terms, that I did not want to be alone in a hospital
hooked to a ventilator. He angrily asked if I expected
him to watch me as I struggled to breathe. Things were
pretty heated at this point, but he did agree to read the
articles on ventilators I had read, and then we would
talk again.
12 GRAND
Summer 2020
Continued on next page
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0994809700/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grandmagazi0d-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0994809700&linkId=c0cf2342749a51234e00421ef2df453e
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003B6QYSW/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grandmagazi0d-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B003B6QYSW&linkId=74a78ba0a510c9871c2e38f745d59213
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/04/opinion/coronavirus-ventilators.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/03/coronavirus-survivors-recovery/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/03/coronavirus-survivors-recovery/
GRAND Magazine - Summer 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - Summer 2020
Contents
GRAND Magazine - Summer 2020 - 1
GRAND Magazine - Summer 2020 - 2
GRAND Magazine - Summer 2020 - 3
GRAND Magazine - Summer 2020 - Contents
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