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brainbrick123 Asked October 2021

Why a person would want to feel like a human, or wouldn't want to feel like an animal, when they think they might die soon. Anyone else?

I used to take care of an old friend when he had pancreatitis and suffered a lot of pain from gallstones for a few months. When he started noticing pain, he went to the ER and stayed in the hospital for about a week. Although his symptoms were not completely gone, he didn’t want to stay there because he didn’t like the way he was treated by the nurses. He overheard two nurses say to each other that they wished the old patients died soon. He went back home to treat his symptoms himself with the help of friends. He was a medic once, so he believed he had the knowledge to take care of himself. However, since he got back home, his symptoms had gotten worse, and his blood sugar had skyrocketed. Soon, he couldn’t walk by himself, couldn’t sleep for days, and constantly endured excruciating pain. He didn’t want to go back to the hospital albeit the intense agony, lack of in-house medical equipment, and advices from friends. It was difficult to see his physical and mental abilities fading away.
During the most difficult days, he often put ice in his mouth, and replace them when they melted. Also, he started drinking chocolate milk, although he was well aware that milk would make his condition worse, considering he was having pancreatitis. When asked why, he said taking ice made him feel human because animals other than human couldn’t produce ice. The same reason went for drinking chocolate milk since only human mixed chocolate and milk together for consumption, he explained. Understanding that he wanted emotional comfort during stressful situation, I let him consume ice and chocolate milk. However, till today, I haven’t seen or heard anyone does what he did, so I wanted to know if anyone out there know similar stories or know any references to taking ice in mouth or drinking chocolate milk in the literature.


P.S.
Fortunately, one of his friends, who he admired, successfully convinced him to go to a different hospital where his friend worked. He stayed in that hospital for about a month and finally got much better.

JoAnn29 Oct 2021
You don't fool with gallbladder. The toxins that it gives off will make you sick. Chocolate is not good for gallbladder. You can die from complications.

cwillie Oct 2021
I have no doubt that racism, sexism, ageism and any other "ism" you can think of can happen in hospitals and other healthcare settings, staff are just people with personal biases like the rest of us. You say your friend recovered after a month in a different hospital, I can't see that his cravings and coping skills in the interim have any bearing on the eventual outcome.

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Lizbitty Oct 2021
It’s simply a twisted delusion, common with OCD as well as some mental disorders. My MIL has quirks, too. Like, how she doesn’t trust the bathroom sink, but the kitchen sink is fine. She brushes her teeth over the toilet, just to avoid the bathroom sink, and “washes” (never uses soap) with the water that we keep in the fridge because she doesn’t trust tap water (the water in the fridge is tap water). Doesn’t use toothpaste because she doesn’t believe in it and a lot of her teeth have rotted out. Hasn’t taken a shower in over a year, much less trimmed her crazy long toenails because she won’t let us (she became very agitated when we had a foot care nurse come in to do it).

You’re looking for logic with a mentally ill person - trust me. There is no logic there.
LoopyLoo Oct 2021
That’s not quirks… it’s mental illness.
Geaton777 Oct 2021
Maybe the friend of your old friend did a better job of communicating his medical history and needs and advocating for him? The ice and chocolate milk thing may have no significance if your friend is suffering from age-related cognitive decline, or a UTI, or any other number of medical reasons. Ice chips and mouth swabs are often used in hospitals (and hospice care) for those who can't drink enough water to hydrate themselves. Chocolate milk probably gave him enough calories to survive. Your old friend could have been having delusions or hallucinations from his condition or dehydration (including imagining overhearing the conversation between the 2 hospital staff members). This type of paranoia is common in people with dementia.

I'm glad to hear your friend is doing much better.

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