You might ask if she is seeing a shrink. If she is bipolar already, then there is a limit with friends and family having a positive effect. She is definitely a case for a professional. Her feelings about her life are completely normal, but a friend won't see it that way. She has to pass through several more stages before she accepts her loss and decides to deal with it. The fact that she is communicating is actually positive. She will need psychiatric help when she leaves the IC but be sure she takes it. Many people turn it down and never work through it. I'm sure someone on here remembers all the stages. At certain points, considering she has an existing emotional condition, she will need some extra help. Friends and Family simply can't provide this help. I wish you and your friend the very best. john
----- Original Message ---- From: NICHOLE ROHLING <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: QUADLIST <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, June 23, 2008 3:33:53 PM Subject: [QUAD-L] Help Dear friends on the list I received this msg from a friend - what would be your advice to this young woman? Nicki C5-6 I need your help. I have a very dear friend that was in an auto accident a month ago and broke her back in four places. Amanda is 29 years old and has two children and is divorced. Amanda was in a coma and on a ventilator for two weeks, but has come out and is breathing on her own. She has an arm that is broken in two places and her airway was damaged by the ventilator and she will be on a feeding tube for several months. She has no feeling from her belly button down. Amanda also suffers from a bipolar disorder, which is not helping her cope with this situation. She has resorted to text messaging since her voice will not go above a whisper due to the throat damage. I receive about 40 messages a day from her and I am running out of ideas of how to help her. Amanda was told today by her doctor that she has a 1% chance of ever gaining feeling in her legs. I have asked her if she would be willing to talk to you so you could shed some light on how life is still totally possible, but she is not ready to talk to you. I just wondered if you had some ideas on what I can do to help her. I feel so helpless when she sends me messages of how bad she is hurting or that she spent the entire day crying and I try to distract her, but I do not know how much help I am giving her. Her daughter, Caitlin, is Bridgette's best friend and she is a dance at DCDC. Her son, Benjamin, is 6 years old. The children are staying with their father and are in great hands. Amanda is an only child and has very little family so she sits in ICU alone at OU Medical Ctr a lot. Do you have any advise to offer me to help her with this? She sends me messages saying it would have been better if she would have just died and I get onto her and tell her that those kids do not care if her legs do not work, but I feel it is not getting into her head. I just want to help her, if I can. I feel so helpless.
