This week we’ve seen what’s right about American medicine. At a highly reputed university hospital in Tucson, Congresswoman Giffords was admitted, intubated, diagnosed, and rushed to surgery within 38 minutes.
That’s the best of American medicine. With a 5-10% survival rate for bullets to the head, Giffords was lucky to survive, lucky where she was hit, and lucky to be at UMC during a shift change, when much of the staff was present..
Dr. Rhee, the face of the trauma team, had a goal. Speaking to Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN, Rhee admitted that his goal was to get his patient back to where she was before she entered the O.R. In other words, to prevent secondary damage.
Dr. Mole, the neurosurgeon, was a bit more honest in speaking to Dr. Gupta. Pointing to the brain , he expressed concern over strength on the right side and ability to speak.
But now we may get to see the shortcomings of American medicine. After all, the brain is not the mind . And the mind wasn’t operated on, or even treated, by the neurosurgeons.(Illustration of part of the brain affected by stress and PTSD) What got Congresswoman Giffords to open her eyes? The presence of her Congressional friends. Who is issuing the commands that test her ability to follow? Her family. This is different stimulation – it’s emotional, not physical.
I am guessing that at the appropriate moment, Congresswoman Giffords will get physical therapy on the right side, and all the speech therapy she can handle.
But will she receive the same level of treatment for her emotions, for her mind? I hope so After all, the incident that sent her to a neurosurgeon in a trauma center came from another undiagnosed, untreated deranged mind. Now Giffords herself may have emotions she never had before: maybe fear, anger, depression, anxiety. We don’t know yet, but i am guessing she will not emerge emotionally unscarred.
Her quality of life going forward will depend as much on how we treat her mind as how we treat the body. An entire generation of Vietnam vets with PTSD has brought that to society’s attention.
I hope Congresswoman Giffords gets the very best in mental health treatment: better by far than the standard in America.
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This week we’ve seen what’s right about American medicine. At a highly reputed university hospital in Tucson, Congresswoman Giffords was admitted, intubated, diagnosed, and rushed to surgery within 38 minutes.
That’s the best of American medicine. With a 5-10% survival rate for bullets to the head, Giffords was lucky to survive, lucky where she was hit, and lucky to be at UMC during a shift change, when much of the staff was present..
Dr. Rhee, the face of the trauma team, had a goal. Speaking to Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN, Rhee admitted that his goal was to get his patient back to where she was before she entered the O.R. In other words, to prevent secondary damage.
Dr. Mole, the neurosurgeon, was a bit more honest in speaking to Dr. Gupta. Pointing to the brain , he expressed concern over strength on the right side and ability to speak.
But now we may get to see the shortcomings of American medicine. After all, the brain is not the mind . And the mind wasn’t operated on, or even treated, by the neurosurgeons.(Illustration of part of the brain affected by stress and PTSD) What got Congresswoman Giffords to open her eyes? The presence of her Congressional friends. Who is issuing the commands that test her ability to follow? Her family. This is different stimulation – it’s emotional, not physical.
I am guessing that at the appropriate moment, Congresswoman Giffords will get physical therapy on the right side, and all the speech therapy she can handle.
But will she receive the same level of treatment for her emotions, for her mind? I hope so After all, the incident that sent her to a neurosurgeon in a trauma center came from another undiagnosed, untreated deranged mind. Now Giffords herself may have emotions she never had before: maybe fear, anger, depression, anxiety. We don’t know yet, but i am guessing she will not emerge emotionally unscarred.
Her quality of life going forward will depend as much on how we treat her mind as how we treat the body. An entire generation of Vietnam vets with PTSD has brought that to society’s attention.
I hope Congresswoman Giffords gets the very best in mental health treatment: better by far than the standard in America.
Related articles