Sunday morning. 2:18 a.m.
Mr. Sleepy: "Hello?"
Dr. Grumpy: "Hi, Mr. Sleepy, this is Dr. Grumpy., we met yesterday afternoon. I'm the neurologist taking care of your mom."
Mr. Sleepy: "Ummm yeah. What time is it? You woke me up."
Dr. Grumpy: "Sorry. I called because your mom took a turn for the worse about an hour ago. As you know she had a stroke, and it looks like around 1:00 she had a serious heart problem develop. We called in a cardiology team, and I came in, too. Unfortunately, even with our best efforts, she died a few minutes ago."
Mr. Sleepy: "My mom died?"
Dr. Grumpy: "Yes, sir, the cardiologist is still in the room with nursing, but asked me to call you. He'll be out in a minute to answer..."
Mr. Sleepy: "You woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me my mom died? Are you serious?"
Dr. Grumpy: "Well, we thought..."
Mr. Sleepy: "I can't believe this. I mean, I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure that if she's dead now, she'll still be dead in the morning when you could have called me at a more decent hour."
Dr. Grumpy: "Yes, but..."
Mr. Sleepy: "Don't they teach you people common courtesy in medical school?"
Dr. Grumpy: "Sir, I..."
Mr. Sleepy: "I'm going back to bed. Tell the nurse I'll call in the morning to make arrangements."
Click.
Apologies - roflmao .
ReplyDeleteSo we need to add a line to the advanced care directives as to what hours are acceptable to make a death notification or maybe just send a text or e-mail.
ReplyDelete"You've reached Mr. Sleepy. I can't come to the phone right now, but if my mom died, please leave a message."
ReplyDelete@Gray,
ReplyDelete"mom ded at 130am. cl in mrning k? lol"
WOW, that is craziness! And if you had waited til morning, he would have been upset that you did not advise him in a timely manner. You just can't please anyone any more!
ReplyDeleteHoooo Leeee F$#@!
ReplyDeleteMy mom used to take the phone off the hook when she went to bed. When I was 17 and was routinely coming home after she went to sleep, I asked her "What happens if I end up in the hospital and they're trying to get a hold of you for discussing treatment?" She said, "There's no point disrupting my sleep. They are medical professionals and I'm not. They can treat you and you'll still be there in the morning."
ReplyDeleteMy mother died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I'll have to check the call log on my phone.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMd04FVyVRg
ReplyDeleteHoly shit, you destroyed the notion that your readers are heartless scumbags by giving a true example of a heartless scumbag. Hey group let’s celebrate our collective redemption by Grumpy today. Not one of you took sleepy’s side.
ReplyDeleteTo quote Sir Elton: "Caaaan you feeel the looooooooove tonight....?"
ReplyDeleteOn behalf of patients everywhere, I apologize for this person's behavior. So many doctors--like you--try to offer an enlightened and compassionate standard of care, often in the case of very difficult circumstances, and too often you get abused for it.
ReplyDeleteYou did the right thing. Mr. Sleepy, I don't even know where to start. I'm just glad I'm not related to him.
That’s horrible. I can’t imagine. My mom died in the middle of the night, we knew it was coming, but I still wanted to know immediately and was grateful I got a call. This makes me really mad.
ReplyDeleteIt's things like this that reinforce my idea that Jim Morrison was a true genius:
ReplyDelete(sings) "People are Strange..."
I'm going to assume Mr. Sleepy apologized to you in the morning and blamed his groggy state for his unacceptable behavior. That's my headcanon and I'm sticking to it.
ReplyDeleteO.M.G.
ReplyDeleteMr. Sleepy went to bed drunk or stoned. How dare you interrupt the best sleep he's had all week?
Seriously, what an unfeeling jerk.
Bet he was a "wonderful" son - said no one ever.
ReplyDeleteI got called in the middle of the night because I was my aunt's medical POA and she had taken a bad turn. I asked if they needed me to go to the nursing home where she was, and they told me no. The next day she passed away.
ReplyDeleteSomeone didn't love his mother much. Perhaps she deserved it, perhaps he deserved her not loving him. But it makes me grieve for them both. I hope I never meet him.
ReplyDeleteDoc Grumpy, you did the right thing. Even if he didn't deserve it.
Ugh, I would have guessed this was my ex-husband if I didn't know that his mother had already passed. May Mr. Sleepy receive the same "consideration" when his time comes.
ReplyDeleteTerrible human.
ReplyDelete