Tag: hospitalization

The Myths of Mental Health In America

As I mentioned Once Before one of the Many things I find Fascinating is Sociology. It’s true I am Not what You would Call a People Person by any shot of the Imagination, BUT that Aside I find People fucking Fascinating to No End. When I was in Collage at one Point I considered getting a Degree in Sociology (and Hell No I wasn’t about to be a fucking Social Worker. That Job Pays DICK, and will Burn You Out Completely as it Kills whatever Faith You have left in Humanity), Yet Life had a Different Course for Me to take.

I still find Interacting with People to be a Necessary Evil I am utterly Intrigued as to What Makes People Tick. One of the Social Shifts We have seen is How Society as a Whole Feels, Acts, and Thinks about Mental Health.

Not too Long Ago NO ONE Mentioned or Talked about Mental Health Issues Unless it was At Home Behind Closed Doors where Positively No One Else could Find Out. Fast Forward to Today and it’s a MUCH Different Story. People Nowadays Conversate at Ease about being in Therapy, Talk Openly about Their Psychological Issues (ie I’m Bipolar), Embrace the Help of the Psychiatric Community, and  There Mental Health Prescription Drug Ads on TV, the Internet, YouTube, and Plastered All Over Magazines. The Stigma that if You Sought Psychiatric Assistance You were Flawed and Literally Insane, BUT Those Days are all but Gone.

Still there are a Small Group of The American Public that haven’t gotten on The Band Wagon, and still Believe the Outdated and False Claims about Psychiatry, Medications (ie Prozac), Therapy, and Patients. This Post Is Dedicated to Them. LISTEN UP ASSHOLES HERES A CHANCE TO EDUCATE YOURSELF AND BREAK FREE FROM INANE IGNORANCE. SO LISTEN UP.

The Following are the Top 10 Myths and Misconceptions pertaining to Mental Health:

  1. Mental Health Problems are Uncommon or Rare.

In Fact, nearly 1 out of Every 5 Americans WILL HAVE a DIAGNOSED Mental Disorder in Their Lifetime, According to the National Institute of Mental Health.

2. Mental Health Problems Are Caused By The Person Suffering From Them.

While People DO NEED to take RESPONSIBILITY for Their Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors associated with Disorders, They are NOT TO BLAME FOR THEM. There is an Important Difference between taking Responsibility and Accepting Blame, BUT Unfortunately, MANY People CONFUSE these 2 Things

3. Mental Health Problems Are Purely Biological Or Genetic In Nature.

Some Professionals and Mental Health Advocacy Organizations feel that Mistruths like this one will Better Forward Their Professional BIASES or POLITICAL AGENDAS, Yet this remains FALSE. Mental Health Problems are NOT solely caused by Bad Genes  or a Biological Chemical Imbalance, according to the Research We have to Date. ANY Health Care Professional, or Mental Health Avocate who CLAIMS Otherwise is Telling You a HALF-TRUTH to Forward THEIR OWN, UNSPOKEN AGENDAS.

4. Mental Halth Disorders Are Often Life-Long And Difficult To Treat.

Many Times, Individuals with a Newly Diagnosed Disorder such as Depression or Anxiety are told They have to take Medication(s) for it. Yet, when They Question Their Physician about How LongThey must Remain on the Medication(s), They Receive a Muddled, Non-Answer, such as, “As long as You need to.” Most Medications (with Few Notable Exceptions, such as those Prescribed for Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia ) Prescribed for Mental Disorders should be taken for Short Term (Less than a Year) Symptoms Relief. Some Medications have Withdrawal Effects that are often Worse than the Original Problem. QUIZ YOUR DOCTOR about these Issues (such as Length of Time on the Medication(s), Palm for Weening You Off the Medications, Etc.) BEFORE You are placed on ANY MEDICATION for a Mental Disorder.

       

5. Psychotherapy Takes Forever And Delves into Your Childhood Issues.

This is FALSE and Holdover from the Older Days of Psychotherapy. MODERN Psychotherapy, however, can be Stort-Term and Solution Oriented. Most short-term Psychotherapy approaches use a Cognitive-Behavioral Model, which Emphasizes Irrational Thought which lead to Dysfunctional Behaviors and Feelings. This Type of Therapy Emphasizes Learning what Those Thoughts are and How to Easily change Many of Them, often in a matter of only a FEW WEEKS. Most common Mental Health Disorders can Now be Treated in a matter of MONTHS instead of YEARS. Insurance and Managed Care Plans usually cover much of this sort of Treatment.

6. I Can Handle My Own Mental Health Problems, And If I Can’t Thats Because I Am Weak.

The 1st Part of this Statement May NOT be so much of a Myth, as Most People who have a Mental Health Problem DO NOT SEEK TREATMENT for it. Instead, They Rely on Their Traditional Coping Mechanisms (Like Excessive Eating, Drinking, Drugs, Working Longer, Working Harder, Exercising more, Hanging Out with Friends/Family Etc.) to take care of the Problem. Many Problems which may be Diagnosable may also Be Mild enough for this type of Care to be Sufficient.  Talking with Friends, Reading a Self-Help Book, or Visiting an Online Self-Help Group may Not be Enough to Help get You through Your Problem(s).

       

When Your Problem(s) become OVERWHELMING despite Your Best Efforts to Cope, that is a SURE SIGN You need Addition (aka Professional) Help. This DOES NOT mean Your Weak/Weak Minded/Weak Willed or anything remotely like that, It Means You REALIZE and ACCEPT Your Human with Natural Limitations. Seek Appropriate Care/Treatment when Your Coping Skills go Beyond being Able to HELP You Deal with Your Problem(s).

7. If I Admit I Have Problems, Everyone Will Think I’m Crazy and I’ll Need To Be Admitted To A Mental Hospital/Facility For A Very Long Time.

“Crazy” is a GENERIC TERM which is MEANINGLESS in this Context. Everyone is a Little Bit Crazy some of the Time. Having a Mental Disorder Really DOESN’T mean You’re Crazy. It just means You have a Problem, similar to a Medical Disease, which needs Treatment. Would ANYONE think less of You for seeking Treatment if You had Caner?! Then Why would ANYONE think any less of You because You have Anxiety or Depression?! And if They Do, THEY ARE THE ONES WHO NEED EDUCATION AND TO BE MORE OPENMINDED.

       

Most People who have a Diagnosable Disorder DO NOT NEED Hospitalization (Referred to as Inpatient Treatment as its called Now a Days) . Hospitalization is ONLY USED in ETREME CASES, when the Problem puts You in Imminent Risk/Danger or Dying or If You are a Threat To Your Own Safety (ie. Suicidal) or a Threat To Others Safety (ie. Homicidal). Even in the Case You are Hospitalized for Your Problem, it DOESN’T mean that You will be there for Days, Weeks, or Longer. Just like with an Emergency Room You will be Assessed, Treated, and Released as soon as Your Feeling Better.

8. Being Suicidal Means I’m Insane.

Suicidal Feelings are most often Symptoms of Depression or Related Mood Disorder. Feeling Suicidal DOES NOT make You any More or Less Insane than Anyone Else. Suicidal Feelings go away once You begin to Receive Adequate Care for Your Depression or Other Mood Disorder. That’s Why it is So Tragic when a Person actually succeeds in Their Suicide Attempt, Had the Person in Question had been Receiving Adequate Treatment, They could be Alive and Feeling much less Depressed and Suicidal.

       

9. Mental Health Problems Are Best Treated By My Primary Care Physician Or A General Practitioner.

NO MATTER what Their field, nearly EVERY Mental Health Professional AGREES that Diagnosable Mental Disorders are Best Treated by a Trained Specialist (a Mental Health Professional). Weather that Professional is a Psychiatrist, Psychologist, or Other Clinician Trained to Diagnose and Treat Mental Health Problems, You will ALWAYS receive the Highest Quality Care and Treatment when seen by Mental Health Professional as Opposed to a General Practitioner. Mental Disorders should be taken as Seriously as ANY Potential Chronic and Disabling Medical Condition. You go to an Oncologist for Cancer, a Dermatologist for Skin Problems Etc. You should NEVER expect or Demand ANY LESS in the Quality of the Care You receive when dealing with Mental Health Problems.  it is Difficult for General Practitioners to Keep Up with the Latest Researching the Field and Often They Prescribe ONLY a Psychopharmacological Treatment Approach, YET that is the LEAST EFFECTIVE Treatment approach Available.

          

10. Mental Health Professionals (Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Social Workers, Psychiatric Nurses (My Wife is a Psychiatric RN), and Family Counselors etc) Make A Ton OF Money Off Of People Suffering From Mental Health Problems/Disorders.

At One Time in the Not-Too-Distant Past, this was True. BUT NO LONGER. In Fact due to the Vast Expansion of Managed Care in the Mental Health Field over the Past 6-7 Years, Mental Health Care is Often the LOWEST PAYING Healthcare Profession. The Majority of Behavioral Healthcare and Related Professionals work in this Area because the Want To, NOT BECAUSE OF THE PAY. It is a WELL DOCUMENTED FACT that Psychiatrists are Often the LOWEST PAID Physician Specialty Field.

       

I hope You found this Post Informative, Though Provoking, and Helpful.

Thank for Reading,

  By Les Sober

Your Health Insurance is Financially Raping You To Death

The Fairytale History of Health Insurance:

Health Insurance would provide a service where the client sends in Monthly checks for your entire life. When the client needs, Hospitalization, Surgery, ER Emergency, Illness, Doctor Visits, Specialists, Medications etc. the insurance company uses the clients money to cover any medical issue. Of course the Health Insurance Companies would charge a reasonable fee for their services since they deal directly with your doctors and medical institutions.

What The Hell Happened?

Health Insurance Companies realized the more money the refused to pay the richer they became, and they sold their souls to the Deity of the Dollar.    The Health Insurance Companies started restricting its coverage, constantly increasing rates, and finding ways TO NOT PAY YOUR CLAIM.

Health Insurance Companies employ a whole fucking department of people who’s only job is to review client claims and FIND ANY REASON/LOOPHOLES so your Healthcare Provider WON’T HAVE TO PAY YOUR CLAIM, essentially doing the opposite of its intended purpose.

Seriously the Health Insurance’s business model wouldn’t work for any other business because people wouldn’t use it and it’d go bankrupt. What other industry or company or product maker raises their prices periodically all year, every year WHILE REDUCING THE SERVICES.

Would you tolerate your local grocery store say constantly increasing the price of Milk for instance and at the same time giving you less milk for your money. If your grocer continued raising the price of a gallon of Milk from today’s current price of $2.25 up to$3.75 ,and then a month later to $6.00 and then $7.99 next month and so on all year long. BUT not only is your grocer raising the price but SIMULTANEOUSLY your grocer would be giving less Milk for the Money. See as the price goes up you’d get less Milk at first it be just a little under a gallon then 2/3 of a gallon, and then only half a gallon at newly inflated GALLON Milk prices.

Then there’s The Deductible which is one of the greatest and greediest scams in Health Insurance History. The deductible works as follows. You pay a set amount of money out of your own pocket for your medical care WHILE SENDING A CHECK EVERY MONTH TO YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE PROVIDER. Can you say “Legal Double Billing”?! That be the equivalent of taking your car to your mechanic and he makes you fix the car yourself (using your labor and cash for needed parts) and then giving you a bill for the repair. ITS FUCKING INSANE THAT PEOPLE PUT UP WITH THIS CORRUPT CAPITALISTIC GREED LIKE THIS EVERY DAY.

I will once again use a Bullet Point format for the rest.

  1. My Aunt Ellington needed a hip replacement, and put it off for years in spite of the fact they she had what is considered a good health care provider. She asked me politely not to name the Health Insurance Company and out of respect for her I won’t. She knew the out of pocket would be a significant amount of money. She finally had the surgery and it cost a total of $117,000. Her insurance company paid only $17,000 leaving her with a $100,000 in medical bills, AND THEY STILL WANTED THEIR MONTHY PAYMENTS.
  2. I had a best friend in high school named Brooklyn Billy Bob who I still talk to sporadicly to this day. Right before I met Brooklyn Billy Bob his family had just moved in with his grandmother not by choice but necessity. The family didn’t have a lot of money to speak of. During the long moving process Brooklyn Billy Bob’s dad, who had a serious health issue pertaining to his heart, couldn’t afford his heart medication. As a result Brooklyn Billy Bob’s dad DIED because he couldn’t pay for his LIFE SAVING MEDICATION.
  3. Pharmaceutical companies who work hand in hand with your Health Insurance Company DO NOT CREATE CURES, THEY CREATE CLIENTS. Think for a second on how the Pharmaceutical companies are COMMERCIALIZING YOUR HEALTH FOR PROFIT.
  4. Lets not forget the American Government whose politicians make MILLIONS on Health Insurance and Pharmaceutical companies Lobbyists HAVE INSTATED A $2,500 YEARLY FINE if you DON’T have (lets be honest its if you don’t pay for) Health Insurance.
  5. When I went to rehab for a vicious heroin addiction which SAVED MY LIFE my Doctor had to call/talk to my Health Insurance Provider DAILY because they wanted to booted out asap so they wouldn’t have to pay any more claims. My Doctor had to LIE TO HELP SAVE MY LIFE. Each day my doctor got on the phone with my Health Insurance Provider and had to lie so I didn’t get kicked out because my Health Insurance Provider didn’t want to pay to cover my again LIFE SAVING treatment. My Doctor was smart he knew I COULDN’T be removed from Rehab IF i was either SUICIDAL or HOMICIDAL (the rule is simply you can’t be taken out of treatment for Insurance reasons if your a threat to yourself or others). My Doctor did this dance for 17 days and I did end up getting released early because of the bullshit with my Health Insurance Provider (who ultimately got what they wanted which was ending treatment asap)
  6. EVEN WORSE my Wife is an RN who works in the Drug Addiction field and the Insurance vs. Rehab War continues. Since the dawn of Drug Rehab Health Insurance companies have been trying with all their financial might to DENY ALL ADDICTS LOOKING FOR HELP. The Insurance Companies HATE REHAB because unfortunately addicts relapse and may need more help to stay clean and healthy. Insurance claims this “Revolving Door” of the Rehab field justifies NOT PAYING ANYONES REHAB CLAIMS EVER AGAIN. The war has raged for decades, BUT finally the Insurance Companies have started to win. They have rearranged protocols in their favor. Example there is a treatment evaluation used when a patient is admitted to a rehab that gauges their current physical health from 1-10 with 10 being the worst. The Insurance companies have announced that if a patient comes in to be admitted if their symptoms are 1-5 THEY AREN’T PAYING because in their opinion aren’t in actual need of medical help. They are also making medical institutions write EVER THING in a patients medical chart 3 requiring the ENTIRE treatment teams signatures. This is a way to encourage little mistakes by the staff that the Insurance Companies can then use to DENY THE PATIENT CARE. This will create a massive social problem. If drug addicts can’t get help the keep using, and if they keep using they keep lying, cheating, stealing, robbing and scaring to feed their habit before it ends their life prematurely. Its bad enough our prisons are over crowed due to drug offenses (such as possession) that has created a over crowding situation. This over crowding allows NEW OR REPEAT VIOLENT OFFENDERS being brought into the prison system to be released extremely early because there is no place to put them. The fact is drug addicts should be sentenced to Rehab NOT PRISON, Addiction is called a disease BUT its actually a treatable Metal Disorder.
  7. One thing a that baffles me in the Health Insurance field is they DON’T PROVIDE FERTILITY COVERAGE FOR WOMAN OR MEN. The Insurance Companies will chip in once a woman is pregnant. WHATS WEIRD is Health Insurance Companies are GREEDY AS FUCK so why wouldn’t they cover fertility?! MY POINT if a couple has a kid then the kids going to need Health Insurance and thus get added to their parents policy and then at 18 they have to pay for their own policy. So kids equal customers and customers equal cash.
  8. When I had Hepatitis C which if untreated will end your life painfully and prematurely I saw a Specialist who was a fucking godsend, a miracle in the form of a man. There at the time I was seeking treatment a slew of new and more effective Hep-C drugs hitting the market. It was because the FDA was pumping cash into the Hep-C drugs after they announced the #1 health problem facing America was Liver Transplants. My Doctor researched EVERY drug and decided one a 2 medication combo that had virtually NO SIDE EFFECTS (up till VERY recently the only treatment for Hep-C was Interferon injections which have the identical side effects as Chemotherapy causing a whopping 91% of prior patients to end treatment before completing the course of Interferon ) AND IT COULD CURE HEP-C as opposed to possibly wrestling it into submission like Cancer. Well no surprise my Health Insurance Provider wasn’t at all happy about my treatment plan. My Specialist called my Health Insurance Provider and managed to get them to clear his treatment plan for me by USING THEIR GREED AGAINST THEM. His argument simply was this by biting the bullet and paying for my treatment NOW then I’d live a full lifetime which meant my Health Insurance Provider would continue to get monthly checks much longer. Bottomline Dead People DON’T FUCKING PAY FOR HEALTH INSURANCE HEALTHY PEOPLE DO.
  9. JUST YESTERDAY I went to my local pharmacy to pick up my medication and was told the price was $131.00 when I was paying $10 with my HUMANA Insurance plan. The Pharmacist told me my  HUMANA insurance card expired so I thought it was no big deal I’d just have to order a new one. I called  HUMANA my Insurance Provider as soon as I got home, and the representative informed me my Health Insurance had been CANCELLEd AS OF JANUARY 31ST.. I’ve been with that Insurance company 14-15 years and NEVER missed a single payment. So as you can image I was in a state of shock, awe and serious confusion. I asked the representative why and he proceeded to duck my question for an hour before finally coming up with this statement “HUMANA is NO LONGER providing the plan I was insured under in my area.” I asked him what the fuck that meant as thats not a proper answer and to me made no fucking sense at the time. Again he would answer fully and just kept repeating his “NO LONGER IN YOUR AREA” statement so I hung the fuck up. I immediately called back and asked the second representative the question of what the previous statement meant. She had no problem answering me and said with out a pause “HUMANA IN FACT HAD DECIDED TO NOT INSURE ANYONE ANY MORE IN MY ENTIRE STATE.” This means 100’s of thousands or more people LOST THEIR HUMANA/HUMANA ONE HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE BY NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN. Bottomline HUMANA/HUMANA ONE decided to stop providing coverage for the ENTIRE STATE because it was a “High Claims State” and what do Health Insurance Companies hate? Yup PAYING YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE CLAIMS.
  10. SHOP AROUND! While Health Insurance is a Scam based on FEAR and GREED you should opt for the lesser of all the evils, and by evils I mean the Health Insurance Companies. I got dropped by HUMANA due to HUMANA’S GROWING NEED FOR GREED, but in the end I got NEW plan with BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD with not only the SAME COVERAGE for LESS MONEY and FULL DENTAL & OPTICAL which I never had with HUMANA/HUMANA ONE.

In Summation the Salvation of Health lies in Social Medicine. I know back in the early days when the American politicians where debating The Affordable Care Act the greedy unethical and immoral GOP launched a propaganda campaign demonizing social medicine. The claims the Republicans made WERE ABSOLUTELY FALSE it was a blatant fear tactic to scare the American public into submission and it worked. Why did it work so well?

Americans believe whatever they hear now a days instead of thinking about them first. A pivotal point in the propaganda was social medicine would increase taxes, BUT IF the American public had stopped and done the math they would easily see the tax would be FAR LESS THEN THE CURRENT PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE.

If you remember my Aunt got stuck with $100,000 medical bill AFTER HER HEALTH INSURANCE PAID THEIR PART ($17,000 out of at total cost of $117,000) SO I ask you which costs more a tax increase or a $100,000 medical bill after being fucked over by your Health Insurance Provider?!

Its unAmerican that Capitalism now dictates your health care. You pay or you SUFFER and you pay or you DIE. We have the doctors, facilities, treatments, and medications that could help heal people BUT we will let them SUFFER AND DIE because MONEY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PEOPLE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shotguns, My Grandfather & The Guy Who Should Have Died

My grandparents lived in a Farmhouse built circa 1883 on a massive 1,100 ache plus property down south in a tiny town know as Podunk. Every summer and every Christmas my family and I would drive down to  visit my grandparents on the farm since my brother and I were off from school. While the town was so tiny (that when it got a second traffic light it was a big goddamn deal let me tell you) there are 2 major trucking companies headquarters located in Podunk that run 18 wheelers all day and all night long transporting everything under the sun. Luckily when the main road in and out of Podunk was to be built they asked my great grandfather about its placement since( like the original 19th century dirt road) it would run through a portion of his property. So instead of having the modern road run directly outside of the Farm house’s front yard gate he decided to have it built this time with a huge curve that brought the road out to a 1/4 of a mile from the main house. Between the farmhouse and the new road is essential a giant grassy field with a semi circle dirt driveway that allows the house to be accessed by 2 separate entries from the outlying road. Now on the outer side of the large curve is a 6 1/2 foot ditch (before you reach the woods) and for the life of me to this very day I have no idea why the town hasn’t put of warning signs for the truckers. See if your driving an 18 wheeler and are going slow you’ll hug the road to safety ,BUT if your driving an 18 wheeler and your going to fast you’ll run off the road and plumet head first into the aforementioned big ass ditch.

One summer while we were visiting my grandparents when late one night we all got one hell of a scare. What set off the insane events of that night started when a trucker driving a rather big tanker truck filled with liquid pesticide was speeding a bit and thusly found himself plunging head long into the ditch of death. The first thing that saved the driver’s life was when he crashed he was thrown from the cab, but this only got him out of the frying pan into the fire. If I recollect correctly the driver’s injuries included (but not limited to) Broken and cracked ribs, internal bleeding, severe lacerations, 2 completely shattered legs, head trauma, fractured right wrist, and massive bruising not to mention he was in shock as well. When the driver gathered his senses and managed to look around at his surroundings (as well as thanking whatever god he prays too for not being instantly and violently killed) he saw the far off light of farmhouse’s front porch lights and knew it was his only hope or he would in fact die on the side of the road. So summoning all his remaining strength the driver slowly (and I imagine quite painfully) pulled himself using just his arms and dragged himself the 1/4 mile across the grassy field and across to the front yard. I don’t know if the driver couldn’t get up the stairs to the front porch, but he again dragged himself around the side of the farmhouse to what is referred to as the middle porch. Its called the middle porch for one simple reason which is back in 1883 fire was a huge concern especially if you lived in a small rural town. Thusly to combat the threat of fire the architects of the day designed houses so you’d have the  house with a middle porch in-between the main house and the kitchen as well as dinning room. This way if your kitchen (which was the biggest threat of fire) did catch fire the middle porch provided a buffer in-between.

Once the driver reached the middle porch he preceded to punch his way through the screen of the exterior door leading off the middle porch to the surrounding yard. The driver opened the door and then pulled himself up onto the porch. From there he once again dragged himself in excruciating agony to the door to the main house and pounded on the door like his life depended on it which it did. The driver was screaming bloody murder things like”There’s been an accident! HELP! HELP ME PLEASE! Oh God, PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR I don’t want to die out here…” obviously to get the attention and aid of the homeowner (who for all he knew wan’t even home).

Now as one might imagine being that it was around 2 a.m. in the morning, virtually pitch black outside (no streetlights or urban sprawl makes night even darker), and we were located in such a rural area outside of a tiny town that we were basically on our own (the average police response time to the property is around 40 minutes or more.) There are 2 bedrooms at the back of the house on the 1st floor across from one another my brother and I slept in one and my parents slept in the other. I remember opening our bedroom door just a minute crack as to allow a singular eye to peer out into the hallway. I saw my father too had cracked open my parents bedroom door and glanced over at me to give me the universal “STAY THERE” hand gesture. All of us were freaked the hell out and had no idea what to do because like I said if there was a crash alright, but it could be some sick son of a bitch trying to gain access to the house and all that terrible shit. A minute or two of being frozen in place by paralyzing fear I heard the familiar sound of the wood stairs creaking as someone came down them and immediately looked to see what was going on there to see my grandparents. My grandfather being 6’3″ with a poker face made of stone and a shotgun in each hand was leading the way down the stairs.  My petite 5 foot nothing grandmother was literally right behind him and looked flustered as hell. My grandfather walked to the door not saying a word, unlocked it and forcefully swung it open. The driver collapsed backwards as the door flung open to see my grandfather standing there in his pajamas silently pointing a wicked looking pair of shotguns at him. At this point it was obvious there had in fact been a horrendous crash and there wasn’t some deranged rapist serial killer, and my parents and grandmother went into crisis damage control. My grandmother called 911, my father asked the man what happened and my mom frantically gathered first aid items. Meanwhile my grandfather continued to stand in the door way completely quite still aiming both gun barrels at the injured driver. After assessing the initial situation my grandmother suggested we move the injured driver off the porch and into the house’s main hallway, and it was then my grandfather spoke for the first and only time during the whole ordeal. What my grandfather said I will remember to the day I die and its only one singular sentence                         “Don’t bleed on my carpet.”

Note to Reader: The driver was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital for emergency medical treatment. My father called the hospital the next day and was informed the driver was alive, stable and would completely recover from all of his various injuries.