"We Can't Kill Your Mother" and Other Stories of Intensive Care
by Lawrence Martin, M.D.
Table of Contents

NOTE: "We Can't Kill Your Mother" and Other Stories of Intensive Care can be downloaded in its entirety as an e-book from 1st Books Library ($4.95). The book can also be ordered in trade paperback format for $13.50. For purchasing the e-book or print versions, please go to 1st Books Library and enter part of the book's title or the author in their search engine. Below are the first few paragraphs of "MOMMY, WHY DON'T YOU HUG ME?"

Thirty-five-year-old Naomi Benedict was sitting in a chair at home, recovering from the flu, when she felt a sudden tingling in both legs. She stood up to stretch, lost her balance and promptly fell to the floor.

The maid ran in from the kitchen. What was wrong? Mrs. Benedict said the only problem was her legs, they felt weak and tingly as if their circulation was cut off. Otherwise she felt fine. The maid helped her stand up, then climb the stairs to the bedroom and get into bed.

It was two in the afternoon on Tuesday, March 7. Mr. Benedict, an attorney, was at work and their two young children were in school. At three o'clock she was to attend the city's Arts Council meeting, her first time out in a week. Instead of getting dressed she lay in bed, unsure what to do.

She called her husband. Julian Benedict thought her leg weakness was probably from the flu and sitting too long in one position. He suggested she call Dr. Cooper and not try to make the meeting.

Dr. Cooper, one of the town's leading internists, knew the Benedicts well as both their physician and friend. He advised her to stay in bed; if not substantially better in the morning, after a good night's sleep, she should come to his office.

The next morning I was in MICU making rounds, when Dr. Cooper phoned.

"Larry, I've got Naomi Benedict in my office. You know who she is, don't you?"

"Sure," I said, "her husband is Julian Benedict, right? I've seen their picture in the magazines." I did not know them personally but I knew of them. At the time he was a rising young lawyer, famous after his defense of a business tycoon charged with murder. When his client won acquittal Julian Benedict's name was all over the papers. At age 39 he was a legal star.

I was aware of Naomi as a young socialite and heiress to a family fortune made in the steel industry. Like many young and wealthy women she was active in prominent charities, one of which made donations to Mt. Sinia Hospital. She and her husband were also well known, at least locally, because of their home. `La Maison Magnifique', so dubbed by an overly enthusiastic editor, was featured in the city magazine four months earlier. The Benedicts had spent a fortune redecorating an old French chateau-style mansion into something that, even by European standards, was stunning (at least from the pictures; I have never been inside). Naomi's college degree was in art history and she had orchestrated the entire project.

"Well, I've been treating her for a viral gastroenteritis the past week," Dr. Cooper continued. "She had the flu with some diarrhea and was getting better, at least until yesterday. She had a little leg weakness yesterday and this morning can hardly walk. I'm not sure, but it might be progressive. She also has some diminished breath sounds. I did a vital capacity [a measure of lung function] in the office and it's down to about 70% of predicted. Larry, I'm worried about her. I'd like to put her in MICU if you have a bed."