Matthew wrote:

We just lost a family member a couple weeks ago due to stupid stubborn
mountain idiocy. He had the Flu ( not swine) so bad that it went to his
heart. He refused to go to the doctor or hospital even though he was laid up
in the bed barely able to breathe. The true stupid thing; which I think
their side of family is looking at charges to be pressed or should, is that
his wife is a long time Nurse and did not call 911 or the doctor because he
said not to that he was fine. The worse thing is that their son is a doctor
and was away. He found out that his father was sick than died. He was irate
that no one called him or a doctor. He said dam his father's pride he would
have been in the ER. If he had to drag him there.

My friend May he rest in peace pasted away a couple months ago due to
lung cancer. The doctor told him to stop smoking that if he did not stop
the chemo he needed would not work. He refused still went through the
treatments. He died a few weeks later. May he rest in peace but I have no
sympathy for or his wife; she knew but ignored the situation.

Mountain pride as it is called I would love to take a baseball bat to
them and people like that. Ignorant pride needs to be beaten out of people
IMO plain and simple.



It's not limited to mountains, and people do have the right to refuse to
see a doctor or follow a doctor's instructions, even if they die as a
result.

Mind you, most won't. When the mother of a friend of mine was in her
last illness, she was reluctant to consult a doctor, and of course,
since she was conscious and in her right mind, the ambulance attendance
wouldn't take her unless she consented. Her daughter finally said "Do
you want to put me through the same thing X (a close friend who refused
to get medical treatment) put you through?" and she went, although the
emergency surgery that followed revealed terminal cancer, and she never
woke up after the operation.

If someone can't or won't follow their doctor's directions, that's their
choice, and really, if they're determined, not even a spouse can or
should take responsibility for making them change their minds (unless,
of course, they are underaged or not in their right minds).

It's a very serious (and usually pointless) thing to do to *force*
someone to quit smoking or see a doctor and follow directions. Suggest,
urge, persuade them to, yes. But ultimately the decision is theirs.

--
Cheryl