Monday morning Karen got up, showered and dressed. As she put her arm into the sling she noticed the tips of her fingers were getting dark. She called the doctor's office, told them she was concerned about her arm and asked for an appointment. They could give her one for ten thirty. She didn't eat breakfast and got all of her things into the trunk of the car by nine thirty then checked that everything in the house was turned off and picked up.
Karen was at the doctor's at ten fifteen. The girl told her the doctor was running about a half hour late. She took out her MP3 and book and sat down in the waiting room. At just after eleven the nurse came to take her back to the room. She sat down and asked what was happening. Karen pulled the sling back and exposed her hand. The woman took one look, got up and went out. The doctor came back with her in less than three minutes. He took one look and started pulling back the sling. When it was off he saw the wire. "Who did that to you?"
"I did."
He felt over her arm. "Young lady. Your arm has no circulation. Unless we restore it immediately we may have to remove your arm."
"I understand that. But doctor, tell me, that arm has been without any circulation since three on Friday afternoon. Do you really think if you could restore circulation now it could be saved?"
"That is not the point. We have to restore the circulation."
"And there is enough poison in that arm right now to possibly kill me if you try to restore the circulation. I may even throw a clot into my heart or brain and die."
"But we have to restore the circulation."
"Doctor, I want it understood that I consider any attempt to restore that circulation a risk to my life. I have written a document that is on file in my office that says if I die and it is the result of trying to save that arm I want charges of homicide filed. The only treatment I will agree to is to have that arm removed."
"But. I must try to save that arm."
"Why?"
"Because that is what I do."
"And would you risk my life to save that arm?"
He looked from her face to her arm and back. "I. I. I. Can't. Not like this."
"Who can? I get sick if it isn't done and the longer it takes the greater the risk."
"Let me have my partner see you. He is in the office, I will get him here as soon as he is finished with his current patient. I can't be a party to this." He got up and went out with the nurse.
About ten minutes later another doctor came in. He looked at her arm. He looked at the wire and tested its tension. She pulled his hand away. "Dr. Please don't move that. If it releases the poison goes into my body and I will get very sick."
"I know that. I wanted to see if it was sturdy. If it wasn't I was going to put on a rubber hose to be sure it doesn't leak back. Ms Harris, you do understand that with what you have done we are going to have to remove your arm just above the elbow?"
"Yes."
He looked at her. "What you did will cost your arm. Do you really understand what that means?"
"Yes. I have been carrying around an arm that is worse than useless for over a year. I am in pain. I am taking too much pain medicine. I am taking anti-inflammatory medicines at levels that is deteriorating my bones and will give me osteoporosis. It will probably kill me. The only rational solution is to remove a portion of my arm. Believe me, I know what it is to not have the use of an arm."
"But we could have done surgery to save it."
"And I go through more surgery, more pain, more medication, and for what? All treatments have failed."
"But there may be a new treatment."
"There may be. But there is noting in practice or even research that will help. That means ten years. I could be dead from the treatment by then. The artificial veins have clot risks. They are probably the cause of the inflammation. The nerve transplants put me at risk for a lot of things. The drugs put me at risk. I have lived with one functional arm. I don't want to die. I cheated death only by inches the last time."
"Karen, do you understand that the person who put on that wire for you can be put in jail for maiming?"
