Post by cam83 on Sept 23, 2003 17:53:19 GMT -5
The next morning, a different nurse came in. Karen was used to that from her time in Lenox Hill Hospital while in New York. Always new nurses came on, at different shifts at various times of the day. Here, there was no exception. The nurses were here to help.
Although Karen had met some that were rude and very brusque. She always tried her best to get along with the many different nurses and doctors. It wouldn't do any good to cause scenes of any sort.
"Good morning Karen!" said the nurse. Karen could see from the nurse's nametag that her name was Fern. Fern was an average looking woman, but made more beautiful by her lovely and ever-beaming smile. Fern was a bit taller than Karen, but at least a good 50 pounds heavier, but it added to her character. She was the type of person that would make everyone feel good and comfortable about themselves.
"Hello," said Karen, a bit shyly. Karen felt kind of silly feeling all shy, considering she had sung all over the world for tens of thousands of people. Even then, it took a lot of courage to summon up the will power to do that. Yet, when she was singing, that became her life, her passion, her drive. To become more successful. To explore other facets of the musical industry.
She loved music. It was her life. She would probably be singing until her dying day. Music was what she felt that she was good at, it was her security.
"How are you feeling Karen?" asked the nurse Fern, who was reading the chart that was on the foot of Karen's hospital bed.
"When am I going to get out of here?" asked Karen in apprehension. "When can I see the doctor?" That was Karen, always getting to the point.
"Don't worry Karen. The doctor will be here in a moment. I believe another doctor you know, named Steven Levenkron, will be here as well. So you don't need to worry. Just take a rest. That's what you need, otherwise your heart will start going crazy, and we don't need that, do we?" said Fern in a firm tone, which meant business. Karen recognized that tone; her mother used that tone as well.
Karen lay back, attached to the equipment surrounding her bedside. She looked around the room, and saw tons of flowers and beautiful arrangements. Cards were lined all over, and some even taped to the walls. The dreary room was beginning to bore her. She wished that she had company. Olivia. Frenda. Cristina. Itchy.
She remembered the two other times that she was in the hospital, once in 1975 and in 1982. She had received a lot of stuff as well. She was touched that people would care for her in such a manner. She felt that she didn't deserve it. Who was she? Just some famous singer, who had starved herself. If only the public knew, they would be sickened, and her image would be ruined.
She turned the television set on, which hung from the ceiling. She flipped through the channels with the remote. A lot of morning shows which did not interest her now. She kept flipping channels and stopped to watch a show and was wrapped up into it.
All of a sudden, the newscaster said, "Pop singer Karen Carpenter is in stable condition at the Downey Community Hospital. She suffered a nearly fatal heart attack on Friday, February 4th. She had remained unconscious for 5 days, before awakening last evening. Karen Carpenter is from the extremely successful group The Carpenters, a triple Grammy winning group who has sold millions of records with hits as Close To You and We've Only Just Begun, among many others. The Carpenter family has been avoiding the media, and kept watch at the Downey Hospital in the last week. You can read the story on the People Weekly issue, on your newsstands today. And next on the show…"
Karen turned the television off, in stunned belief. She had been unconscious for 5 days. She couldn't believe it. Fatal…Fatal…Fatal…Fatal…the word just kept pounding in her mind. She had almost died. The truth really hit her and hit her hard. She had been on the brink of death. People had been concerned and worried. And the media was having a heyday with her story. No doubt every magazine would mention her close encounter with death. People…Life…Rolling Stone…Billboard…US and so on.
The thing that scared her was that the public would want to know why she had a heart attack. Why would a young woman like her almost die? She knew that they would find out about her anorexia, and that terrified her. They might think terrible things of her. They would finally find out the truth about her, the whole world would see her for who she was. She wasn't ready for that.
Sometimes she even felt like she didn't understand why she developed anorexia nervosa. She grew up in a good family, with 2 parents who loved each other, loved their children, and she got along great with her brother. What had gone wrong? Was she crazy? Was she just expecting too much from herself and those around her?
When the nurse came in, with breakfast, Karen wasn't hungry. She just couldn't eat, and not because of her anorexic tendencies. It was a good thing, that there was a IV attached to her, otherwise she would be forced to eat on her own, and she wasn't ready for that.
After the nurse left, Karen rested and was awoken by somebody entering the room.
"Karen! How are you feeling this morning? I am Doctor Rogers, and you know Steven Levenkron," said Doctor Tim Rogers, a trim, tall man, who appeared to be about 47 years of age.
Steven Levenkron went over to hug Karen. He loved her like he did his daughter. She was someone very special, and he knew her more intimately than anyone else, as she had confided to him on her life. In those 9 months in 1982, during her therapy sessions, he had grown attached to this skeletal, but adorable girl-woman.
Looking at her, he could see that she had maintained her weight of 28 pounds, and he was very impressed and pleased. She looked so much better and so much healthier, than when she had first walked into his office, over a year ago. Than she had been so emaciated, he couldn't believe it. How anyone could survive looking like an Auschwitz victim, and thinking they were overweight? He had been treating anorexia and bulimia sufferers for many years, and it still continued to shock him at the growing epidemic of eating disorder victims. The media had a lot to do with that, criticizing anyone who wasn't stick thin. She remembered when an article had referred to her as chubby, and that had hurt her terribly. It still did. So what if she had been chubby? Was that a huge crime? Some people thought that saying such things elevated them above the person they were attacking, but in her own opinion, it lowered them below, because they didn't think of the other person they were hurting. She found out that she had suffered a heart attack, basically her heart gave up from all the years of abuse afflicted on it. Laxative abuse, Thyroid abuse, Starving, Over-exercising, Ipecac syrup abuse, Suppositories, and the list went on and on. This all contributed to her heart problems.
If she could have done it all over again, she knew that she wouldn't have taken that same route. She wanted to live, be happy and healthy. She wanted a family and a husband. While Dr. Rogers was talking to her, and Steven Levenkron was listening, and interjecting at various times, Karen heard them, and yet she was caught in her own thoughts. She was alive.
Maybe she and Tom could get back together…maybe and maybe not. She remembered that on the day of the heart attack, she was to have gone to her lawyer Werner Wolfen's office and she was to have signed the divorce papers. She really didn't want to get the divorce. She still loved Tom very much, but she was afraid of getting hurt. Although everyone around her kept telling her that a divorce was the best thing possible, and she convinced herself to believe in them. Her anorexia, she knew was a major contributing factor of their break-up, and Tom's busy, over-worked lifestyle gave them little time to spend with each other. Her career also kept her so very busy.
Although Karen had met some that were rude and very brusque. She always tried her best to get along with the many different nurses and doctors. It wouldn't do any good to cause scenes of any sort.
"Good morning Karen!" said the nurse. Karen could see from the nurse's nametag that her name was Fern. Fern was an average looking woman, but made more beautiful by her lovely and ever-beaming smile. Fern was a bit taller than Karen, but at least a good 50 pounds heavier, but it added to her character. She was the type of person that would make everyone feel good and comfortable about themselves.
"Hello," said Karen, a bit shyly. Karen felt kind of silly feeling all shy, considering she had sung all over the world for tens of thousands of people. Even then, it took a lot of courage to summon up the will power to do that. Yet, when she was singing, that became her life, her passion, her drive. To become more successful. To explore other facets of the musical industry.
She loved music. It was her life. She would probably be singing until her dying day. Music was what she felt that she was good at, it was her security.
"How are you feeling Karen?" asked the nurse Fern, who was reading the chart that was on the foot of Karen's hospital bed.
"When am I going to get out of here?" asked Karen in apprehension. "When can I see the doctor?" That was Karen, always getting to the point.
"Don't worry Karen. The doctor will be here in a moment. I believe another doctor you know, named Steven Levenkron, will be here as well. So you don't need to worry. Just take a rest. That's what you need, otherwise your heart will start going crazy, and we don't need that, do we?" said Fern in a firm tone, which meant business. Karen recognized that tone; her mother used that tone as well.
Karen lay back, attached to the equipment surrounding her bedside. She looked around the room, and saw tons of flowers and beautiful arrangements. Cards were lined all over, and some even taped to the walls. The dreary room was beginning to bore her. She wished that she had company. Olivia. Frenda. Cristina. Itchy.
She remembered the two other times that she was in the hospital, once in 1975 and in 1982. She had received a lot of stuff as well. She was touched that people would care for her in such a manner. She felt that she didn't deserve it. Who was she? Just some famous singer, who had starved herself. If only the public knew, they would be sickened, and her image would be ruined.
She turned the television set on, which hung from the ceiling. She flipped through the channels with the remote. A lot of morning shows which did not interest her now. She kept flipping channels and stopped to watch a show and was wrapped up into it.
All of a sudden, the newscaster said, "Pop singer Karen Carpenter is in stable condition at the Downey Community Hospital. She suffered a nearly fatal heart attack on Friday, February 4th. She had remained unconscious for 5 days, before awakening last evening. Karen Carpenter is from the extremely successful group The Carpenters, a triple Grammy winning group who has sold millions of records with hits as Close To You and We've Only Just Begun, among many others. The Carpenter family has been avoiding the media, and kept watch at the Downey Hospital in the last week. You can read the story on the People Weekly issue, on your newsstands today. And next on the show…"
Karen turned the television off, in stunned belief. She had been unconscious for 5 days. She couldn't believe it. Fatal…Fatal…Fatal…Fatal…the word just kept pounding in her mind. She had almost died. The truth really hit her and hit her hard. She had been on the brink of death. People had been concerned and worried. And the media was having a heyday with her story. No doubt every magazine would mention her close encounter with death. People…Life…Rolling Stone…Billboard…US and so on.
The thing that scared her was that the public would want to know why she had a heart attack. Why would a young woman like her almost die? She knew that they would find out about her anorexia, and that terrified her. They might think terrible things of her. They would finally find out the truth about her, the whole world would see her for who she was. She wasn't ready for that.
Sometimes she even felt like she didn't understand why she developed anorexia nervosa. She grew up in a good family, with 2 parents who loved each other, loved their children, and she got along great with her brother. What had gone wrong? Was she crazy? Was she just expecting too much from herself and those around her?
When the nurse came in, with breakfast, Karen wasn't hungry. She just couldn't eat, and not because of her anorexic tendencies. It was a good thing, that there was a IV attached to her, otherwise she would be forced to eat on her own, and she wasn't ready for that.
After the nurse left, Karen rested and was awoken by somebody entering the room.
"Karen! How are you feeling this morning? I am Doctor Rogers, and you know Steven Levenkron," said Doctor Tim Rogers, a trim, tall man, who appeared to be about 47 years of age.
Steven Levenkron went over to hug Karen. He loved her like he did his daughter. She was someone very special, and he knew her more intimately than anyone else, as she had confided to him on her life. In those 9 months in 1982, during her therapy sessions, he had grown attached to this skeletal, but adorable girl-woman.
Looking at her, he could see that she had maintained her weight of 28 pounds, and he was very impressed and pleased. She looked so much better and so much healthier, than when she had first walked into his office, over a year ago. Than she had been so emaciated, he couldn't believe it. How anyone could survive looking like an Auschwitz victim, and thinking they were overweight? He had been treating anorexia and bulimia sufferers for many years, and it still continued to shock him at the growing epidemic of eating disorder victims. The media had a lot to do with that, criticizing anyone who wasn't stick thin. She remembered when an article had referred to her as chubby, and that had hurt her terribly. It still did. So what if she had been chubby? Was that a huge crime? Some people thought that saying such things elevated them above the person they were attacking, but in her own opinion, it lowered them below, because they didn't think of the other person they were hurting. She found out that she had suffered a heart attack, basically her heart gave up from all the years of abuse afflicted on it. Laxative abuse, Thyroid abuse, Starving, Over-exercising, Ipecac syrup abuse, Suppositories, and the list went on and on. This all contributed to her heart problems.
If she could have done it all over again, she knew that she wouldn't have taken that same route. She wanted to live, be happy and healthy. She wanted a family and a husband. While Dr. Rogers was talking to her, and Steven Levenkron was listening, and interjecting at various times, Karen heard them, and yet she was caught in her own thoughts. She was alive.
Maybe she and Tom could get back together…maybe and maybe not. She remembered that on the day of the heart attack, she was to have gone to her lawyer Werner Wolfen's office and she was to have signed the divorce papers. She really didn't want to get the divorce. She still loved Tom very much, but she was afraid of getting hurt. Although everyone around her kept telling her that a divorce was the best thing possible, and she convinced herself to believe in them. Her anorexia, she knew was a major contributing factor of their break-up, and Tom's busy, over-worked lifestyle gave them little time to spend with each other. Her career also kept her so very busy.