Abby's pregnant patient from 4/13

greenspun.com : LUSENET : ER Discussions : One Thread

Does anyone else think that this character is going to wind up back in the ER beaten to a bloody pulp by that "understanding" husband of hers? Or possibly an attempted suicide which may just be a success! Give him a chance to manage a home and 5 children all under the age of 8. God I could not even imagine 5. My 2 yr old twins are tough enough!!

-- Linda (l.brown@mindspring.com), April 14, 2000

Answers

I also expect to see her back in the ER. I don't know whether she'll have been beaten (just because her husband doesn't have the faintest sense of what a difficult time his wife is having doesn't mean he would be physical abusive), or whether she'll starve herself again and wind up with more serious consequences, or something else, but I definitely see that subplot as unresolved and likely to lead to further physical harm (and thus emergency room visits). JMHO.

-- Elizabeth (ebs42@yahoo.com), April 14, 2000.

In my neck of the woods it is not unlikely to find a lot of mother's with 7 children under the age of 8, so I had a bit harder time relating. But I don't really know if it is all the husband's fault. She seems to be a very doormat type person. Most mother's I know who have that many children that close are run the tightest discipline ship I can imagine. I think they learn it for survival, but her kids were a nightmare! They completely ignored her! I too think she will wind up back, but out of a more self-inflicted ailment. Maybe complications due to the abortion procedure, I doubt she would follow all of the after care instructions, she seemed too self sacrificing.

-- Rachel (rachelrr@ivillage.com), April 14, 2000.

Good point Linda. I do think we have not heard the last from this storyline. There was something very creepy to me about the husband. It was like he put her in some type of trance or something, because when Abby went in to check on her it was like she was brainwashed. Too weird. I can't see him beating her up, but the psychological abuse he would put her through would be awful!

-- amanda (amanda.rehm@home.com), April 14, 2000.

I don't think we can say that the husband will beat her up in the future - there was no indication that he was physically abusive, Abby only said he was "controlling," which could mean a lot of things. I agree with Rachel, though. The lady did seem to have a "doormat" personality. I know it can be hard to stand up for yourself if you have been in a marriage like that for so long. But on the other hand, nobody can dominate you unless you let them! I also don't know why in the world Abby did not suggest that the lady start using some birth control. She may not have listened, but Abby could have at least mentioned it. It would have been interesting to see her reaction.

-- Melanie (msintn@hotmail.com), April 14, 2000.

I don't know if she will be beaten, but at the end she sounded a little unsure of herself. I think that maybe she might come back in with some kind of psychology problem. But I could be wrong. And was it just me, or did she sound a little like Lucy when she came in and was calling for her kids?

-- Aimee (aimeefield@hotmail.com), April 14, 2000.


She could end coming back to Abby pregnant again, wanting another abortion. The biggest problem I had with the storyline was I didn't hear Abby ask if she wanted birth control. I mean if you're going to help someone have an abortion behind her husband's back, why not help her get on the pill or something too. Let me know if I missed this part. I had a call in the first 20 minutes and went through the tape pretty quickly.

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), April 14, 2000.

Diana, I totally agree. The whole time I kept saying to myself doesn't she know what causes this...has she ever heard of birth control? I was kind of surprised it wasn't mentioned. Unless we do see her again pregnant and then Abby is all upset that she didn't talk to her about that.

-- amanda (amanda.rehm@home.com), April 14, 2000.

Maybe it'll be the husband who comes back with a Lorena Bobbitt-style wound....

Just kiddin', everyone.

-- nancy (ntc72@mailcity.com), April 14, 2000.


Good one Nancy!!

-- amanda (amanda.rehm@home.com), April 14, 2000.

When I made this post originally, and that she'd probably be beaten, I did not mean because he was clueless about what a hard time she's having, I meant because she "murdered" his unborn child. He was just way too calm there at the hospital and she seemed to me like she was in denial - trying to convince herself that everything would be ok. I keep thinking he's going to be a powder keg - that this abortion will keep nagging at him and nagging at him until he explodes (on her).

-- Linda (l.brown@mindspring.com), April 15, 2000.


I was disgusted with this woman! I mean, I felt sorry that she had so many kids, (bratty, slimy ones at that) but she wasted a life -- that poor unborn child, I mean, it couldn't suffer because of what the parents did! they should have dealt with it! that husband was terrible, but uh...argh...when she said she was going to "try again" I was like, "HELLO!!!! I thought you couldn't!" so my dad suspects that she lied to her husband that she had a miscarriage, which she was trying anyway. SO STUPID!!! USE BIRTH CONTROL!!

-- Katie (writegrl@aol.com), April 15, 2000.

Maybe they're religion doesn't believe in birth control. I mean good grief - what living breathing female doesn't know how NOT to get pregnant. If I were her, and my religion/husband did not want to practice birth control, I would darn sure start having a lot of headaches - not so far fetched when you see how many kids she has.

-- Ice Queen (determined@justsayno.com), April 16, 2000.

Regardless of their religion (and I'd have other comments there regarding using abortion as a means of birth control there), my problem was with Abby and the gyn clinic and there being no mention of birth control. She could probably get them free from "Carol's" clinic with a quick stop every month while she was going to the market--and could take them long enough to get her head on straight. And no one suggested a psych consult...someone with five kids starving herself to force a spontaneous abortion? I still say they ignored these issues because she'll be a bounce back in the future.

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), April 16, 2000.

If their religion doesn't believe in birth control, I'd have a hard time understanding why an abortion would be OK. (Yes I know she didn't like the idea, but in the end, she decided it was preferable to another child.)

-- joy (joygirl01@yahoo.com), April 17, 2000.

I think she very likely told her husband that she suffered a miscarriage. She may have even convinced herself at some level to cope with the reality of what she had done so she could keep going. She never seemed very convinced to me about going ahead with the abortion and she commented that she knew (?believed?) that it was wrong. I think the whole birth control issue should have been brought up by Abby. They may not believe in using birth control for religous reasons, but it should have been mentioned and then left up to the woman to make her choice. I do think we may see more of this storyline in future eppys but I'm not sure from which angle. Will be interesting to see if something comes back to bite Abby in the rear for how she handled this.

-- Bev (bev.burris@eer-h.com), April 17, 2000.


diana, i have mentioned both carol's clinic, and a psych/social service consult in another thread on this board.

-- Alexis (lexicat1@webtv.net), April 17, 2000.

I am willing to bet she comes back the more I think about it. ER is a very "socially conscious" show and I doubt they would plug abortion as an acceptable method of birth control. (I really HOPE the wouldn't!) I, personally, am totally against abortion, but if they are going to do it, DO IT RIGHT! Give the lady birth control! Granted, pills might be inplausible because of difficulty obtianing them and/or hiding them and taking them with her husband. But a quick shot of Depro-Provera would last 3 months and would take 2 seconds. I mean, honestly, if that is all they do with that, I would be disgusted.

-- Rachel (rachelrr@ivillage.com), April 17, 2000.

Yes, I definetly think the mother's last dazed comment about always wanting a big family was a set up for a more devastating return to the ER. Esp. when she had spent the whole time talking about how the "big family" was too overwhelming. She sounded so manipulated by her husband, it was obvious he has a lot of control over her.

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), April 17, 2000.

Forgot to ask again, who *is* Abby's assigned teacher? Is it Mark? She's a 3rd year med student just like Lucy was last year right? So how come she's always handling cases on her own, with just minimal consulting from others (esp. Be Still My Heart, Match Made in Heaven)? Lucy and Carter were always together, Carter rarely left her alone until they analyzed what they would have done, it was usually *their* patient, not just hers (until her 4th year), but Abby is very often unsupervised. Maybe Carter really *was* a very devoted teacher.

-- Elaine (mrsclooney78@hotmail.com), April 17, 2000.

I think the reason Abby is running around unsupervised is because 1) she's older than Lucy was and 2) she's been working as a nurse for ten years. She has the knowledge and the skills to deal with patients (as a nurse), so Mark (or whoever her assigned teacher is) figures she doesn't need the sort of close supervision that Lucy and Carter needed as medical students.

I think this is all going to blow up in their faces when something happens to Abby's patient because she made a bad call and no one followed up on it because they figured "Hey, she's experienced, she knows what she's doing."

-- Shefali Asthana (shefpeff@hotmail.com), April 26, 2000.


Hey! Well I was very bored and looking through all these old threads which no one has probably looked at for a month or two, but anyway, I was wondering, does anybody know if there is a law that says physicians must offer birth control as one of the treatments? I mean, that sounds kinda far-fetched, but I could see why it would make sense. Also, what kinda dense lady is this? What female on the face of this planet (or in America and Canada anyway) over 12 hasn't heard of birth control? It's like, DUH!

-- Lauren (whateverchick@aol.com), June 07, 2000.

Lauren, I do not believe there is such a law. On the NARAL site it said that a physician does not have to discuss birth control with a patient if is against their religious beliefs.

-- amanda (amanda.rehm@home.com), June 07, 2000.

I was scanning the old answers and noticed Rachel's from near the top about being from an area where it's not unusual to have a number of children under 8. I'm wondering, Rachel, (and this is just a curious question, not meant in any way to be challenging) if the fathers in those situation are more active in the home than the one we saw on ER where it was stated that he wasn't home much. Again, just wondering.

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), June 07, 2000.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ