Tweet
Another Sad Day.
Hey Folks,
Well, like Rover recently, I, too, have now experienced a family loss. You may remember the B-I-L Peter that I had spoken about in previous posts. He was a lifelong smoker, enjoyed his alcohol as well as other herb vapors. He had a strong aversion to medicine/doctors. He had lived with me/us the last 5 years after we had essentially rescued him from a short stint with incarceration after which he would have ended up homeless. He had been a tree surgeon, but had worn out his knees with the tree climbing, and so he wasn't able to work. He had not worked for a legal company, and so SS taxes had not been collected/paid, etc., so he had not earned enough "points" to receive disability income.
Anyways, his health had started to go downhill the past few months. He had developed BLOOD in his urine, but it wasn't from bladder/kidney infection...he had no fevers or any other pain. At first we thought it might have been a severe infection, and were able to put him on a regimen of antibiotics, but they didn't help at all. The last week, he had complained of being short of breath, and a few days ago stopped smoking!
His skin had also taken on a more ashen/gray color. He had become rather weak, had trouble sleeping/breathing laying down, and resorted to sleeping in a chair/recliner.
This morning after I had already gone to work, he got up and had again mentioned to my wife that he was having more difficulty breathing, and he agreed to let her take him to the E.R. He came down the stairs and went into the downstairs bathroom to relieve himself. While in there he apparently collapsed, and regrettably fell off the toilet against the door, which prevented Nancy from being able to open it. After she wasn't able to get a response from him, she called 911, they arrived several minutes later, and were able to get the door open enough to get to him and pull him out onto the hallway floor. But by this time, he was already BLUE. They performed the required ACLS procedures, had the automatic CPR machine on him as they took him to the E.R., but his pupils were already fixed and dilated, and Nancy knew that he had gone!
He was only 54 y/o. But his father had passed at a relatively young age from heart disease. Peter's Mom had also been an Insulin diabetic and she had passed with pancreatic cancer. He lived his life hard and fast the way he wanted, and had told me a few years ago that he had not expected to live as long as he had. He had 2 sons and 1 daughter, but he had not been in their lives just after a few years after they were born, and they are all grown up now. We were able to contact them via their mother/grandparents mostly to let them know about him, as well as to provide them with medical family history information for their future awareness. They live in Penn, we are here in Southeast Va.
We finalized the funeral plans this afternoon, he will be cremated, and we plan on spreading his ashes out on the fishing pier where he so loved to fish, catch and release only. Because of his probable diagnosis of Cancer, and that he had passed not in a hospital environment, he could not be an organ donor....as far as major organs, heart, liver, kidney, etc. HOWEVER, because the eyes...specifically the Corneas which are what are used in corneal transplants to restore sight...they are NON-vascular and so CAN be harvested and used to possibly restore sight to one or two people, so he can help somepne to at least experience life a bit better with the gift of sight!
Okay, that's about all I have to say for now, may be busy with helping SWMBO to get thru this ordeal for a while....he was her "Little Brother" !
Take care of your selves, and if you SMOKE, think again about quitting, get your checkups....colon and prostate....both quite successfully treatable when detected early. I want everyone to live long and prosper.
T.C.
Well, like Rover recently, I, too, have now experienced a family loss. You may remember the B-I-L Peter that I had spoken about in previous posts. He was a lifelong smoker, enjoyed his alcohol as well as other herb vapors. He had a strong aversion to medicine/doctors. He had lived with me/us the last 5 years after we had essentially rescued him from a short stint with incarceration after which he would have ended up homeless. He had been a tree surgeon, but had worn out his knees with the tree climbing, and so he wasn't able to work. He had not worked for a legal company, and so SS taxes had not been collected/paid, etc., so he had not earned enough "points" to receive disability income.
Anyways, his health had started to go downhill the past few months. He had developed BLOOD in his urine, but it wasn't from bladder/kidney infection...he had no fevers or any other pain. At first we thought it might have been a severe infection, and were able to put him on a regimen of antibiotics, but they didn't help at all. The last week, he had complained of being short of breath, and a few days ago stopped smoking!
His skin had also taken on a more ashen/gray color. He had become rather weak, had trouble sleeping/breathing laying down, and resorted to sleeping in a chair/recliner.This morning after I had already gone to work, he got up and had again mentioned to my wife that he was having more difficulty breathing, and he agreed to let her take him to the E.R. He came down the stairs and went into the downstairs bathroom to relieve himself. While in there he apparently collapsed, and regrettably fell off the toilet against the door, which prevented Nancy from being able to open it. After she wasn't able to get a response from him, she called 911, they arrived several minutes later, and were able to get the door open enough to get to him and pull him out onto the hallway floor. But by this time, he was already BLUE. They performed the required ACLS procedures, had the automatic CPR machine on him as they took him to the E.R., but his pupils were already fixed and dilated, and Nancy knew that he had gone!
He was only 54 y/o. But his father had passed at a relatively young age from heart disease. Peter's Mom had also been an Insulin diabetic and she had passed with pancreatic cancer. He lived his life hard and fast the way he wanted, and had told me a few years ago that he had not expected to live as long as he had. He had 2 sons and 1 daughter, but he had not been in their lives just after a few years after they were born, and they are all grown up now. We were able to contact them via their mother/grandparents mostly to let them know about him, as well as to provide them with medical family history information for their future awareness. They live in Penn, we are here in Southeast Va.
We finalized the funeral plans this afternoon, he will be cremated, and we plan on spreading his ashes out on the fishing pier where he so loved to fish, catch and release only. Because of his probable diagnosis of Cancer, and that he had passed not in a hospital environment, he could not be an organ donor....as far as major organs, heart, liver, kidney, etc. HOWEVER, because the eyes...specifically the Corneas which are what are used in corneal transplants to restore sight...they are NON-vascular and so CAN be harvested and used to possibly restore sight to one or two people, so he can help somepne to at least experience life a bit better with the gift of sight!
Okay, that's about all I have to say for now, may be busy with helping SWMBO to get thru this ordeal for a while....he was her "Little Brother" !
Take care of your selves, and if you SMOKE, think again about quitting, get your checkups....colon and prostate....both quite successfully treatable when detected early. I want everyone to live long and prosper.
T.C.
Comment