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About a year ago my dad entered a hospital to have back surgery. Everything went well and he was back at home after a few days. Then one night he had a coughing fit and spit up a bunch of blood. Back to the hospital he went scared shitless. He was 56 and had quit smoking 6 months previously, but he had smoked since he was a teenager and he feared the worse.
It turned out to be blood clots that had originated from his legs and ended up in his lungs. They thought it was a complication from the surgery he had just had on his back. That started a year long ordeal in which he has been hospitalized seven times by my count. One of the blood clots turned into a lung abscess. He was promptly given blood thinners and antibiotics. Everything appeared to be okay for a little while and he was actually able to return to work for a short time. Then he started having intestinal problems. I have irritable bowel syndrome and the symptoms he was having were a lot like what I had experienced with that illness. But it turned out to be something they call "c-diff" for short. I don't know what it means, but apparently it's some kind of bacterial infection. It was thought to be a complication from the treatment he got for the lung abscess.
The c-diff illness nearly killed him. He ended up on the intensive care unit with something called "septic shock." He pulled through, but he hasn't been quite the same since then. He then had another lung abscess. Now he is back in the hospital with the c-diff problem again. Fortunately, he got there before the situation got as bad as last time. He is in isolation, though. Anyone who enters his room has to wear a surgical gown and rubber gloves and you have to wash your hands real good before leaving.
My dad sounds terrible. His life is not in danger at this point, but at the relatively young age of 57 he already sounds like a broken down old man. He sounds like he's in pain all the time when he talks and the quality of his voice sounds different. I'm sure he's in a certain amount of physical pain, but I think the biggest part of it is coming from his mind. He sounds tortured and traumatized. He's got 28 years in at work. He's got friends there that are looking into early retirement or possibly something he calls "medical retirement." He has an old two story house that he's lived in for the last 20 years. It's a beautiful place and he's put a lot of work and money into it. He even won a city beautification award for it. Now he's talking about selling it and getting a little place like I've got- a small first floor condo. We have rules here that prohibit residents from doing too much work outside of their dwellings. Just a little green space and that's it. He used to love gardening and landscaping his place. Now the thought just tires him.
He's not the same man he used to be. I just hope to see him happy again. I haven't seen him laugh in a year. Thanks for listening.
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