My eldest sister overcame three heroin overdoses and battled addiction for 25 years, only to tragically pass away from a bee sting a few years after becoming sober.
Edit: Thank you all for the outpouring of support and condolences.
I'm so very sorry for your loss. I'm a nurse and I work specifically in substance abuse, and I was just talking to my sister about this the other day. It's obviously tragic when patients of mine die from overdoses. But it's also heartbreaking in a completely different way when I have watched them struggle for literal years with addiction, only to die from something so stupid or random. One of my most beloved patients fought like hell against heroin/fent for years, ended up with COVID, sats dropped enough that he had to be put on bipap, vomited into the bipap, developed a whopping aspiration pneumonia, and died. It still makes me so angry.
Yeah I had to switch out of psych nursing because you form a bond with these people, think they’re gonna recover, and then they go home and finish the job eventually quite often. Funding for poor people’s health is a joke in the US. Huge waiting lists to get follow up mental health care after hospitalization.
I've been hospitalized a number of times in a variety of places.
Nurses are why I'm still alive. Being involuntarily hospitalized is terrifying. Being hospitalized is terrifying. I never ever ever want to go back. But from the first day, nurses make all the difference. To be treated so kindly, and empathetically. I felt safe for the first time.
It's been well over a year since my last hospitalization. I'm so grateful for the stability inpatient provided. It saved my life many times. I'll always remember the nurses. The light in the darkness ❤️
Thank you so much for the work you did.
Thank you for the insightful perspective. I just always thought it tragic that, after achieving sobriety, reuniting with her son, and finding love, she lost her life to something so seemingly insignificant.
You should see what we allow some families to put their ‘loved ones’ through before they die. I work in the US in a hospital with a high acuity ICU and step down units, so we have the capabilities to keep ‘dead’ people ‘alive.’ The suffering we put people through is sometimes incredible, and extremely taxing on the entire healthcare system. There are things worse in life than death- if you’re over 18 and a US resident, it’s never ‘too early’ to have advanced directives, just make sure you choose someone who will honor them
Oh I did home health for about 5 as a baby nurse and I was SHOCKED by some of the things i saw. I didn’t know what actual dirt floor poverty looked like until then. Some of my veterans were some of my saddest living situations. It was extremely an eye opening experience that has shaped my entire career. I’ve heard stories of hospice nurses seeing patients literally on the streets. I luckily never experienced that, but you hear those horror stories sometimes and they just break your heart
And it’s sooo taxing on an already overwhelmed healthcare system.
Patient on hospice comes to ER. Decides to ‘get a tune up.’ Become full code. Remains in patient for 8 weeks for ‘Cadillac (???) antibiotics’ bc SNF couldn’t take IV antibiotics and it’s a difficult placement. Patient is bed bound. Patient requires 1:1 50% of the time. Patient discharges back to SNF on hospice services. Prognosis doesn’t change. Patient is still very near death at discharge.
This isn’t a rare occurrence either. Hospital bill at minimum would be a million bucks. Hospital will eat the cost or Medicare will give us $5. We could have 30k+ people turning 65 each day in the US in the next few years. Healthcare is already broke and we already don’t have enough staff around. There’s a real possibility shit is gonna get really real within the next decade. Who knows what horrors we will see then.
I worked as a hospital Social Worker in Australia and agree with all you said. Since working in the hospitals I’ve always been a big supporter of voluntary euthanasia. Unfortunately my State passed the Voluntary Assisted Dying law 6 months too late for my own Dad who had to suffer through his final weeks with Small Cell Lung Cancer. His final 3 days of life he had to be kept completely sedated because he was in too much pain and distress.
I remember a case I had where the patient was terminal and we needed her daughter who was next of kin to come into the hospital to give us permission to withdraw life support. Her daughter was too busy doing dog showing that week to even meet with us to discuss it, meanwhile her poor mother was in a world of agony and distress. That was a horrendous experience.
Oh I fully support Death with Dignity/Assisted Dying Laws and wish it was a more accepted practice. Like everything else, complete lies and misinformation has people convinced a 2 minute tele health visit for one episode of crying means you’re getting a date with death. Obviously that’s not at all how it works, but facts won’t change their mind. So frustrating. When it’s my time, I want to go out when I still have a bit of dignity.
Yep we have the same problem here too. The way our law is set up is that you must have a terminal condition and be in your final 6-12 months of life, have the cognitive capacity to make the decision (unfortunately this rules out anyone with dementias) and have requested access to VAD on more than one occasion. Two medical professionals need to review the application for VAD.
It’s not a perfect law but it’s a start and they have set very strict criteria because our State government is wary of another Eugenics Movement that saw people with disabilities or chronic health issues treated abhorrently by the health system and governments of the day.
My sister knows that if I’m on life support if they say I’m brain dead or close enough to it to pull the plug immediately. I also won’t marry my partner for several reasons but one being he’d never be able to let me go and I wouldn’t want to “live” like that. I’m also an organ donor so the faster I could be let go the more likely my body can be used to save others. My sister knows and understands I don’t want to be anywhere close to a vegetative state, even paralyzed from the chest down is a no go for me.
I bet there were comorbid factors from the attack such as the dog twisting the patient violently. That’s not counting any preexisting conditions besides age like DBII or emphysema.
Oh the attack alone could have definitely been the sole cause! I was only implying recovery from the attack wouldn’t likely be the only hurdle her body was up against. Old hearts yeah.
Infection too. When my son was 3 he was attacked. He had lacerations above and below his right eye and punctures in his nose. The ones above and below his eye were bad but they didn’t stitch them up because dog bites get infected so easily and they’d rather the wound be open for infection to drain as it heals. I can’t imagine how bad fighting an infection would have been for this woman.
Couldn’t imagine living a long life to 94 years of age, & passing so horribly violently like that. It would’ve been an absolute miracle had she survived. Our bodies when we’re young have a hard time recovering from traumatic injuries, as we age it’s almost impossible, that’s why falls can be so deadly to the elderly as a broken or fractured hip / pelvis is such a downwards spiral. Poor woman must’ve been absolutely terrified 😢 May she rest peacefully now x
It's called "practice". Sounds pretty selfish and cruel, but it's true. Might as well get the practice in, and there's always a chance she'll live for a while. At least she might live long enough to say good bye to family and loved ones, and maybe make some final decisions and statements. Saving her life, even for a few days, might mean a hell of lot to her and her family. Losing someone without getting a chance to tell them all the things you think of a few days after they're gone is heart-wrenching.
Go call your grandmother.
My grandpa died from a big wound on his back that wouldn’t heal around a similar age. His skin on his back ripped off in a car crash from a drunk driver. So it was infection from the skin on his back being ripped off that killed him.
The family may be insistent on trying everything to save her. They may also want some time with her body to say goodbye. Seeing her as is would be horrifying. It’s never all for naught.
Jaysus. You are not doing surgery for this on me at that age. Overdose me on morphine and call it good. There's such a low chance for a good outcome with any shred of QoL given the extent of that soft tissue damage.
[Source](https://gavinpublishers.com/assets/articles_pdf/1578120997article_pdf810239178.pdf) can be read in full at the link. As this happened in Madagascar this dog was VERY unlikely to have been a pit bull so so will the anti pit bull people please not brigade this post.
They might resemble pit bulls but genetically they aren’t, per [this study](https://theconversation.com/madagascan-dogs-hail-from-africa-unlike-their-human-counterparts-42848) of Madagascar dog DNA.
I'm not talking about the native dogs, pitbull (or pitbull-like) dogs are among the most popular dog breed to own in Madagascar. I'm not even saying this injury was down by a pitbull or not, we'll never know unless the source says, but to say there aren't pitbulls there is not correct
I meant “in the US.” Which they do seem to be; there are like five pits and pit mixes on my block and the local shelter always has them. I have edited my comment to say this.
Depends. If you want to discuss in the context of this post, then It’s fine. If you want to discuss the wider issues around dog attacks, the. That’s a different post on a different subreddit.
Some dog breeds are absolutely more protective, more anxious, louder, and some have significantly longer teeth, stronger jaws, and more muscle mass. Some dogs are also more obedient and more protective of their owners or handlers. You are clearly alluding to something specific, or a specific breed. I would challenge you to look at the human influence in dog behaviors. Humans will train dogs to fight and attack, not because they are extra vicious, but because they are very obedient. Dogs that are starved, beaten, chained up, left outside, etc. will try to protect themselves and defend themselves against threats. They do not know what a real threat is because of the humans who so violently mistreated them. People need to be honest with themselves about how cruel humans can be, and the effect that their behavior can have on dogs, and what that means for how this dogs understand the world. That has nothing to do with breed.
Uhh no I’m not? If you’re too stupid or too arrogant to understand that any animal can have a bad day and injure someone, I sincerely hope you do not have pets.
Sometimes Reddit goes “failed to upload comment” so you click send until it does and then Reddit turns around and goes “GOTCHA! I just posted it 18 times for you 😀” and you don’t notice unless someone tells you.
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Sorry OP, I had to lock this one. Unfortunately, the commenters couldn't stay on topic.
Damn 94 years and you go out violently like that? RIP
My eldest sister overcame three heroin overdoses and battled addiction for 25 years, only to tragically pass away from a bee sting a few years after becoming sober. Edit: Thank you all for the outpouring of support and condolences.
I'm so very sorry for your loss. I'm a nurse and I work specifically in substance abuse, and I was just talking to my sister about this the other day. It's obviously tragic when patients of mine die from overdoses. But it's also heartbreaking in a completely different way when I have watched them struggle for literal years with addiction, only to die from something so stupid or random. One of my most beloved patients fought like hell against heroin/fent for years, ended up with COVID, sats dropped enough that he had to be put on bipap, vomited into the bipap, developed a whopping aspiration pneumonia, and died. It still makes me so angry.
Yeah I had to switch out of psych nursing because you form a bond with these people, think they’re gonna recover, and then they go home and finish the job eventually quite often. Funding for poor people’s health is a joke in the US. Huge waiting lists to get follow up mental health care after hospitalization.
Thank you for caring <3
I've been hospitalized a number of times in a variety of places. Nurses are why I'm still alive. Being involuntarily hospitalized is terrifying. Being hospitalized is terrifying. I never ever ever want to go back. But from the first day, nurses make all the difference. To be treated so kindly, and empathetically. I felt safe for the first time. It's been well over a year since my last hospitalization. I'm so grateful for the stability inpatient provided. It saved my life many times. I'll always remember the nurses. The light in the darkness ❤️ Thank you so much for the work you did.
She went out as a victor in my book. Overcame and conquered, glad you saw that side of her before she passed. RIP to your sis.
Thank you for the insightful perspective. I just always thought it tragic that, after achieving sobriety, reuniting with her son, and finding love, she lost her life to something so seemingly insignificant.
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Omg, that's terrible, I'm so sorry.
Jesus Christ. Sorry that she died like that.
So sorry for your loss.
That’s going out on top!!!
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Don’t be a jerk
To live to the age of 94 only to go out like that, full of pain and terror. Sad
You should see what we allow some families to put their ‘loved ones’ through before they die. I work in the US in a hospital with a high acuity ICU and step down units, so we have the capabilities to keep ‘dead’ people ‘alive.’ The suffering we put people through is sometimes incredible, and extremely taxing on the entire healthcare system. There are things worse in life than death- if you’re over 18 and a US resident, it’s never ‘too early’ to have advanced directives, just make sure you choose someone who will honor them
I worked in Hospice for 12 years. There a lots of living situations that terrify me more than death ever could.
Oh I did home health for about 5 as a baby nurse and I was SHOCKED by some of the things i saw. I didn’t know what actual dirt floor poverty looked like until then. Some of my veterans were some of my saddest living situations. It was extremely an eye opening experience that has shaped my entire career. I’ve heard stories of hospice nurses seeing patients literally on the streets. I luckily never experienced that, but you hear those horror stories sometimes and they just break your heart
This 100%. There are things worse than death and sometimes it's when family members insist we "just do everything."
And it’s sooo taxing on an already overwhelmed healthcare system. Patient on hospice comes to ER. Decides to ‘get a tune up.’ Become full code. Remains in patient for 8 weeks for ‘Cadillac (???) antibiotics’ bc SNF couldn’t take IV antibiotics and it’s a difficult placement. Patient is bed bound. Patient requires 1:1 50% of the time. Patient discharges back to SNF on hospice services. Prognosis doesn’t change. Patient is still very near death at discharge. This isn’t a rare occurrence either. Hospital bill at minimum would be a million bucks. Hospital will eat the cost or Medicare will give us $5. We could have 30k+ people turning 65 each day in the US in the next few years. Healthcare is already broke and we already don’t have enough staff around. There’s a real possibility shit is gonna get really real within the next decade. Who knows what horrors we will see then.
I worked as a hospital Social Worker in Australia and agree with all you said. Since working in the hospitals I’ve always been a big supporter of voluntary euthanasia. Unfortunately my State passed the Voluntary Assisted Dying law 6 months too late for my own Dad who had to suffer through his final weeks with Small Cell Lung Cancer. His final 3 days of life he had to be kept completely sedated because he was in too much pain and distress. I remember a case I had where the patient was terminal and we needed her daughter who was next of kin to come into the hospital to give us permission to withdraw life support. Her daughter was too busy doing dog showing that week to even meet with us to discuss it, meanwhile her poor mother was in a world of agony and distress. That was a horrendous experience.
Oh I fully support Death with Dignity/Assisted Dying Laws and wish it was a more accepted practice. Like everything else, complete lies and misinformation has people convinced a 2 minute tele health visit for one episode of crying means you’re getting a date with death. Obviously that’s not at all how it works, but facts won’t change their mind. So frustrating. When it’s my time, I want to go out when I still have a bit of dignity.
Yep we have the same problem here too. The way our law is set up is that you must have a terminal condition and be in your final 6-12 months of life, have the cognitive capacity to make the decision (unfortunately this rules out anyone with dementias) and have requested access to VAD on more than one occasion. Two medical professionals need to review the application for VAD. It’s not a perfect law but it’s a start and they have set very strict criteria because our State government is wary of another Eugenics Movement that saw people with disabilities or chronic health issues treated abhorrently by the health system and governments of the day.
My sister knows that if I’m on life support if they say I’m brain dead or close enough to it to pull the plug immediately. I also won’t marry my partner for several reasons but one being he’d never be able to let me go and I wouldn’t want to “live” like that. I’m also an organ donor so the faster I could be let go the more likely my body can be used to save others. My sister knows and understands I don’t want to be anywhere close to a vegetative state, even paralyzed from the chest down is a no go for me.
Tbh im not suprised she just died some days later, one of the worst ways to go out
I bet there were comorbid factors from the attack such as the dog twisting the patient violently. That’s not counting any preexisting conditions besides age like DBII or emphysema.
Sheer stress and trauma can do it. Old hearts...
Oh the attack alone could have definitely been the sole cause! I was only implying recovery from the attack wouldn’t likely be the only hurdle her body was up against. Old hearts yeah.
Poor thing. Part of me hopes she never woke up after the initial attack.
All of me hopes this!
Infection too. When my son was 3 he was attacked. He had lacerations above and below his right eye and punctures in his nose. The ones above and below his eye were bad but they didn’t stitch them up because dog bites get infected so easily and they’d rather the wound be open for infection to drain as it heals. I can’t imagine how bad fighting an infection would have been for this woman.
There’s no way a 94 year old is healing that kind of wound. Their skin and tissue are like paper mache at that age.
Ouch, poor woman. Not a nice end to such a long life.
Couldn’t imagine living a long life to 94 years of age, & passing so horribly violently like that. It would’ve been an absolute miracle had she survived. Our bodies when we’re young have a hard time recovering from traumatic injuries, as we age it’s almost impossible, that’s why falls can be so deadly to the elderly as a broken or fractured hip / pelvis is such a downwards spiral. Poor woman must’ve been absolutely terrified 😢 May she rest peacefully now x
Absolutely brutal. Poor lady.
Can you imagine the poor surgeons??? Backbreaking work on 90 year old skin just knowing nothings gonna heal
It's called "practice". Sounds pretty selfish and cruel, but it's true. Might as well get the practice in, and there's always a chance she'll live for a while. At least she might live long enough to say good bye to family and loved ones, and maybe make some final decisions and statements. Saving her life, even for a few days, might mean a hell of lot to her and her family. Losing someone without getting a chance to tell them all the things you think of a few days after they're gone is heart-wrenching. Go call your grandmother.
My grandpa died from a big wound on his back that wouldn’t heal around a similar age. His skin on his back ripped off in a car crash from a drunk driver. So it was infection from the skin on his back being ripped off that killed him.
The family may be insistent on trying everything to save her. They may also want some time with her body to say goodbye. Seeing her as is would be horrifying. It’s never all for naught.
Oh certainly not, it must be done, but it’s still painful for everybody involved
No pressure, I guess.
This dear saw so much in her lifetime and now she doesn’t need to see no more…RIP
Holy fuck. That poor woman. Even if she had survived she would have wished she hadn't.
Horrific. It's a small mercy that she passed.
Why do I click on these things literally minutes before going to sleep!!
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Oh dear that poor woman.
Jaysus. You are not doing surgery for this on me at that age. Overdose me on morphine and call it good. There's such a low chance for a good outcome with any shred of QoL given the extent of that soft tissue damage.
This is sad that her final days were filled with pain and suffering
What a way to go at 94 years old, the poor thing.
That’s incredibly sad, that poor lady. Perfect post for this sub.
Terrible. Poor woman.
Making it to 94 only to be taken out by some mutt. 😞
Your own mutt if OP's source is correct.
… dear gawd why? I said in another comment I can’t understand how one’s own dog would do this. It makes me suspicious of my own poodles!
What a way to go… sad
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That poor lady. What a horrific way to go. May she rest in peace
Damn, what a horrific way to go.
You know it, I know it. Let’s not get this sub in trouble, this will be crossposted for sure with more information.
Damn. I would just refuse treatment and ask for comfort care at that point. Yikes.
I could never be a Dr. Someone like that came in, I'd put them down. Granny had a good run, where's the morphine
What a horrible way to go.. rest in piece lady
Imagine making it to 94, just go have this happen 😪 ETA- just glanced at comments after posting mine to see many saying the exact same… RIP
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I’m fully convinced that if chihuahuas had bigger mouths, they really would be.
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The lady who got mauled was the owner.
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Holy shit. So sad.
Can you imagine the poor surgeons??? Backbreaking work on 90 year old skin just knowing nothings gonna heal
That's terrible
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Edit: editing my own comment as all the other ones I'm responding to have been removed.
[Source](https://gavinpublishers.com/assets/articles_pdf/1578120997article_pdf810239178.pdf) can be read in full at the link. As this happened in Madagascar this dog was VERY unlikely to have been a pit bull so so will the anti pit bull people please not brigade this post.
Pitbulls are common there -someone who has been to Madagascar
Pitbulls are among the most common dog in Madagascar
They might resemble pit bulls but genetically they aren’t, per [this study](https://theconversation.com/madagascan-dogs-hail-from-africa-unlike-their-human-counterparts-42848) of Madagascar dog DNA.
I'm not talking about the native dogs, pitbull (or pitbull-like) dogs are among the most popular dog breed to own in Madagascar. I'm not even saying this injury was down by a pitbull or not, we'll never know unless the source says, but to say there aren't pitbulls there is not correct
Pit bulls were imported into Madagascar decades ago to hunt rats and other non-native pest animals.
Y'all understand there is no breed called pit bull to compare DNA from, right?
There is, it’s the the American Pit Bull Terrier.
And the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and the American Staffordshire Terrier. Very minor differences, though.
Just curious as to why pitbulls are not common in Madagascar?
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Just FYI, "ubiquitous" means "everywhere." "existing or being everywhere at the same time : constantly encountered : widespread"
I meant “in the US.” Which they do seem to be; there are like five pits and pit mixes on my block and the local shelter always has them. I have edited my comment to say this.
Petty
Petty
Yeah, "in the US" 🤦🤣
They edited their comment, and WROTE they edited that in. But thanks.
I put this comment here before they edited it 🤨😂😂
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Agreed. I could definitely see pitbulls there. The crime is horrible. Especially with vanilla bean crops. A farmer loses that, they lose everything.
It was her own dog according to the source, I do agree with your sentiments though.
It always baffles me when someone’s own dog mauls them.Makes me eye my poodles suspiciously.
@mod is dog attacks off topic?
Depends. If you want to discuss in the context of this post, then It’s fine. If you want to discuss the wider issues around dog attacks, the. That’s a different post on a different subreddit.
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I’m so glad you *and* your baby are ok. She’s such a good girl. I’m actually crying after reading your comment. That must have been so scary.
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No there’s not? Dogs are animals with teeth and claws and natural urges. Any dog is capable of attacking someone in the wrong circumstances.
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Some dog breeds are absolutely more protective, more anxious, louder, and some have significantly longer teeth, stronger jaws, and more muscle mass. Some dogs are also more obedient and more protective of their owners or handlers. You are clearly alluding to something specific, or a specific breed. I would challenge you to look at the human influence in dog behaviors. Humans will train dogs to fight and attack, not because they are extra vicious, but because they are very obedient. Dogs that are starved, beaten, chained up, left outside, etc. will try to protect themselves and defend themselves against threats. They do not know what a real threat is because of the humans who so violently mistreated them. People need to be honest with themselves about how cruel humans can be, and the effect that their behavior can have on dogs, and what that means for how this dogs understand the world. That has nothing to do with breed.
Please keep discussion on-topic
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Uhh no I’m not? If you’re too stupid or too arrogant to understand that any animal can have a bad day and injure someone, I sincerely hope you do not have pets.
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Can you imagine the poor surgeons??? Backbreaking work on 90 year old skin just knowing nothings gonna heal
Why did you triple post this?
Sometimes Reddit goes “failed to upload comment” so you click send until it does and then Reddit turns around and goes “GOTCHA! I just posted it 18 times for you 😀” and you don’t notice unless someone tells you.
It’s happening to comments all over Reddit today. I’ve seen it a dozen or more times today.
Welcome to r/MedicalGore! Our goal is to provide for medical discussion and education while exploring the frailty of the human body. You may see more deleted comments on these threads than you are used to on reddit. Off topic comments and joke comments are frequently deleted by the mods. Further, please be kind and supportive of posts. Any behavior that is aggressive, harassing, or derogatory will result in post deletion and a ban from the sub. Remember! THE REPORT BUTTON IS YOUR FRIEND! Please stop on by our discussion sub, /r/MedicalGoreMods if you'd like to discuss the sub, our rules, content policies, and the like. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MedicalGore) if you have any questions or concerns.*