Every day at work we deal with patients who have potentially life threatening diagnoses. Occasionally these people chose to engage in self destructive behavior even after being armed with the knowledge that this behavior is contributing to their declining health. As professionals we often become frustrated with them as they become "frequent flyers". How do you deal with this person when they are your oldest friend...?
My closest freind was diagnosed with hepatitis C several years ago, her doctor believes she has had it since a very young age (possibly birth). She worries me because she leads the life of a 21 year old frat boy; drinking excessively, not sleeping enough, fast food diet, smoking, etc. She thinks because she has had it so long and has never been significantly ill she is somehow immune to its devastating effects. Recently she received a pretty hard blow from her doc that her ALT levels have skyrocketed (in a very short time) yet she continues her destructive lifestyle claiming "I'll quit after the holidays" or "after my vacation" or "after my birthday". But "after" never comes because something else always comes up... She has expresses much disdain for "preachy" friends who have previously tried to suggest a lifestyle change. My heart aches for her, I want to help her but if she is not willing to change am I just wasting my breath?
I am not looking for medical advice, just maybe some guidance on how to help her realize the magnitude of her diagnosis or some advice on just how to help me deal with this because I'm at a loss.
