OGG
Master of the Meh
My remaining sister Debbie, the oldest of the four kids, is in extremely bad shape. She's just turned 62, but her health problems have been piling up for a while now. The textbook, classic "started with a back surgery..." story strikes again.
Her back surgery 7 years ago didn't fix anything, as usual, and in turn just created more pain, less mobility, and the inevitable dependency on heavy pain meds. Toss in a late in life game of chicken with alcohol, and the writing was on the wall.
Never saw that part coming. No family history of alcoholism or dependency/addictive behavior, but sure enough, she got to a point of shocking consumption.
She had a hip replacement about 6 months ago, that I still can't believe her Doctors allowed given her condition. FFS! I got approved for my first knee replacement close to a year ago, and STILL can't schedule it until I get the last of my dental work completed and my fucking dentist can sign off on my Knee surgery... seriously.
Anyway, that hip surgery was the last straw for sure. She's been declining rapidly ever since. She ended up in the E.R. a few weeks ago where she was eventually admitted and diagnosed with Alcoholic Hepatitis. They kept her for two weeks and had her set to go to a 24 hour care facility. Of course, she found a list of reasons why none of them would work for her, so she went home. Despite a clear warning that one drink could kill her, I have zero doubt that she was already drinking before her shoes were off.
So she's in a 24/7 nursing facility right now. The liver failure seems to have grown into renal failure... she has so much ammonia in her system that it's either going to kill her or cause irreversible brain damage at best.
I don't think she's coming home. I think it's fairly certain I'll be burying another sister very soon.
Not sure how I feel about it. Yet another loved one done in by self destruction. Shit's getting old.
Her back surgery 7 years ago didn't fix anything, as usual, and in turn just created more pain, less mobility, and the inevitable dependency on heavy pain meds. Toss in a late in life game of chicken with alcohol, and the writing was on the wall.
Never saw that part coming. No family history of alcoholism or dependency/addictive behavior, but sure enough, she got to a point of shocking consumption.
She had a hip replacement about 6 months ago, that I still can't believe her Doctors allowed given her condition. FFS! I got approved for my first knee replacement close to a year ago, and STILL can't schedule it until I get the last of my dental work completed and my fucking dentist can sign off on my Knee surgery... seriously.
Anyway, that hip surgery was the last straw for sure. She's been declining rapidly ever since. She ended up in the E.R. a few weeks ago where she was eventually admitted and diagnosed with Alcoholic Hepatitis. They kept her for two weeks and had her set to go to a 24 hour care facility. Of course, she found a list of reasons why none of them would work for her, so she went home. Despite a clear warning that one drink could kill her, I have zero doubt that she was already drinking before her shoes were off.
So she's in a 24/7 nursing facility right now. The liver failure seems to have grown into renal failure... she has so much ammonia in her system that it's either going to kill her or cause irreversible brain damage at best.
I don't think she's coming home. I think it's fairly certain I'll be burying another sister very soon.
Not sure how I feel about it. Yet another loved one done in by self destruction. Shit's getting old.
