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My sister refuses to seek medical care when she is sick. For example she had a uti and put off going to the doctor until it became an emergency and she was in the hospital followed by rehab for almost 2 months. She was septic and is lucky to be alive.She doesn't want to inconvenience anyone and doesn't manage her healthcare insurance to cover her bills. It's like she is self-sabotaging but doesn't seem aware of it. It's very frustrating and painful for the family.If we say anything she gets angry and we alienate her. She says she is taking care of herself and that she's not stupid. Are there any magic words to stop her behavior. She will not get therapy because she doesn't see her behavior as the cause of her crisis. This has happened 3 times.
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Is this behavior a lifelong thing, or has it cropped up in recent years? If it’s recent, that kind of suggests some cognitive decline could be happening.

How old is she, and does she have any substance abuse issues that might be affecting her ability act rationally?
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Reply to SnoopyLove
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You may not convince her of anything .
This sounds like dementia and/ or a mental illness .
What may happen is at some point you end up calling APS to report her as a vulnerable adult not able to properly make decisions and care for herself.
The other thing you can try is the next time she is in the hospital or rehab tell them what is going on . However , these days they will not always do cognitive testing in these places . They discharge after the admitting medical diagnosis is managed enough for discharge and they tell you to take her to a neurologist for cognitive testing for dementia . This becomes a problem because she may refuse to go , as she believes there is nothing wrong . Refusal to go to a neurologist for cognitive testing is common. This is why people end up calling APS.
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Reply to waytomisery
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There are no magic words to convince a person to use common sense. If your sister hasn't already learned from her costly mistakes, as most do, there may be some other issues at play preventing things from registering with her. Such as mental illness or dementia, a traumatic brain injury, a personality disorder, etc.

Best of luck to you.
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Reply to lealonnie1
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