Oct 18, 2023
Doc Writes UNUSUAL Prescription For Depressed Patient
Robin Sipe had a tearful visit with a doctor about depression and loneliness. The doctor gave her a directive that she'll never forget.
- 6 minutes
A Virginia woman's doctor gave her
unusual instructions when she came in
saying that she was struggling with
depression and was not doing so well.
He prescribed her a cat,
a feline, if you will.
Robin Sipe says she had
a tearful visit with her
[00:00:18]
pulmonologist of 15 years, Dr.Earl King.
Now, her cat had recently died,
and she was feeling sad about it.
And I don't even wanna think about
the day Charlie is no longer with us,
because I'm gonna be a mess and
I probably will need.
[00:00:34]
To take-
>> All you ever have to do is say
Charlie's name and your eyes begin
to well up every single time.
Just saying his name makes you emotional.
[LAUGH]
>> Speaker 1: There's at least one night
a week where it's just me and Charlie.
[00:00:50]
It's after work, we're bonding, and
I ask him, am I giving you a good life?
Are you a happy dog?
[LAUGH] No, but I'm not kidding.
I literally asked him that.
Anyway, let's move on,
let's get back to the story.
[00:01:07]
Enough about me.
Let's go back to the Virginia woman.
So, King had treated her for
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
which is a condition that blocks airflow
and makes it difficult to breathe.
Sipe said that King had saved
her life three different
[00:01:24]
times in intensive care in Harrisonburg,
Virginia.
So when he asked her what was wrong,
Sipe, 67, opened up to him
about her loneliness since her
beloved cat died over the summer.
I was really going through a bad time,
[00:01:41]
she said she told him during
her appointment in September.
King mentioned that she should
think about getting a new cat,
which I will say is a risky proposition,
right?
Because some people might
get offended by that.
They're still grieving
the loss of the previous cat.
[00:01:56]
The idea of just like, get a new cat and
forget about the old cat,
some might not like that.
When her checkup was over,
he handed her a printed summary of
the appointment with instructions to
get a high dose flu shot in October and
[00:02:12]
a coronavirus shot in November.
But at the top of that list,
the doctor had written, get a cat.
Okay, so there it is.
You can see it in the note.
King, 63, has been a doctor long enough to
know that people sometimes don't follow
[00:02:29]
your instructions, he said.
In fact, patients don't take medications
as prescribed by their doctors about half
the time, according to
the American Medical Association.
So he wrote it down.
Robin was down in the dumps crying
about the loss of her cat, and
[00:02:44]
I felt that a new cat was
the best remedy for her.
And guess what?
She immediately filled her prescription.
She was not offended by it.
After leaving the office, Sipe stopped
at a farm produce stand on her way home.
[00:03:00]
While she was browsing, she noticed
a black and white kitten walking around.
She was from a litter of five, and
she was missing,
she was missing her front left paw.
So then workers at the stand told her
that the kitten lost her paw shortly
[00:03:19]
after she was born when something fell
off a wall in a shed and severed it.
>> Speaker 2: Jeez.
>> Speaker 1: Then they told her she
could bring the kitty home, okay?
I decided to name her Earlene,
I think Earlene, after Dr. Earl King.
[00:03:39]
He helps with more than just my breathing.
He's always taken the time to
look after my entire well being.
In this instant, he also treated my heart.
Everything changed for
the better when I found the cat,
who I will not butcher the name of again.
[00:03:57]
So, Waz, you have a cat.
Did the cat do anything
to you emotionally?
>> Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Somebody who's never been an animal lover,
animal owner, any of that, me and
my cat have absolutely connected,
bonded, all of those things.
[00:04:13]
We feel extremely close to one another.
There's no doubt about it.
It's been an additive experience for
me owning the cat.
However, Earlene aka Captain Hook, shout
out to the owner for stepping up there.
[LAUGH]
>> Speaker 1: [LAUGH] Waz is really
[00:04:31]
looking to provoke the audience today.
[LAUGH] But honestly, Captain Hook would
have been a pretty base name for the cat.
I would have kinda love it.
>> Speaker 2: Yeah, come on,
you make up funny nicknames all the time.
>> Speaker 1: I like funny nicknames
when they're not directed at me.
[00:04:48]
Now, she says that Earlene likes
to watch television with her and
cuddles up next to her in the bed.
She's a sweet, loving kitten, but
she does have this habit of
waking me up to play at 01:00 AM.
Yes, I would love Charlie
to wake me up at 01:00 AM.
[00:05:06]
Charlie wants nothing
to do with me at night.
He doesn't wanna sleep in our bed,
he wants to sleep in his own bed,
on the floor.
Who does that?
>> Speaker 2: That's why my cat's not
allowed to sleep in my room with me.
My cat will wake me up at 5:30AM
in the morning when they're bored,
[00:05:25]
just start all up in my Fit.
No, we're not doing that.
We're not prematurely waking me up.
>> Speaker 1: So what do you do?
You lock the cat out of your room?
>> The door is closed.
You got your food, you got your bathroom,
go do what you do out there.
Bye, bye.
[00:05:41]
>> Speaker 2: My God.
>> Speaker 2: [LAUGH] There's just no way.
I got a good enough alarm clock,
I don't need the cat
waking me up prematurely.
>> Speaker 1: All right, that's fair.
And cats are different from dogs, so
[00:05:57]
there have been times where Charlie will
wake us up in the middle of the night and
he'll be panting, and that's usually
a sign that he's got to do the doodoo.
He's got to take him out immediately
unless we wanna clean the mess from our
place, which I definitely don't wanna do.
[00:06:12]
And usually, since I sleep with
earplugs and Christian doesn't,
he's the one who gets woken up by the dog
and takes the dog out, which I love.
By the way, we have a lovely photo of the
said kitten, I like the name Captain Hook.
We're gonna call her Captain Hook.
[00:06:29]
There it is.
>> Speaker 2: Captain, my Captain.
>> Speaker 1: So cute, so sweet.
And I'm so happy that this worked.
So, anyway, if you're feeling sad,
maybe be consider adopting an animal.
Adopting an animal.
Cuz there's a lot of animals
that need to be adopted,
[00:06:44]
whether we're talking about cats or dogs.
And by the way, you're now seeing images
of the lovely cats that belong to my
lovely producers on the main show.
So there you have it.
Love it.
>> Speaker 2: Wonderful.
>> Speaker 1: Yep.
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