I'm thinking that, for many people, the worst of the worst is the stuff that we do to ourselves. Obviously, there are many people for whom that is not the case. But my Worst - the thing that makes me feel like shit every time I think about it, and will for literally the rest of my life - was almost entirely my own doing.

The worst was when my wife (I call her my wife, since we're all but married) Katania went into the hospital days before Christmas. I won't say why, but let's just say that she went for one thing, and stayed for another. I spent sixteen hours in the emergency room with her, and I think she stayed a total of eighteen.

I went home to get some sleep. When I woke up, I called the hospital to ask about her condition. She'd just gotten out of surgery, I was told. I went straight to the hospital.

Once there, I talked to a doctor who told me that she had acquired compartment syndrome in her legs, a rare condition in which the tissues surrounding one's muscles swell, which restricts blood flow to the muscles. If compartment syndrome is not treated at the moment of diagnosis, it results in massive muscle degeneration. How she acquired compartment syndrome stumped everyone, including the doctors, as it typically occurs as a result of trauma.

Katania endured eight leg surgeries over the course of a three-week stay in the hospital. All concerned parties were worried that she may not walk again. Luckily, the doctor assigned to her case, I'll call him Dr. C., minimized her muscle loss. She's able to engage in most activities she enjoyed before the incident. Impressively, she's able to drive. Not bad for someone about whom everyone thought she may not walk again. Especially so since Dr. C. was called in to amputate her legs.

Linus Van Pelt wrote:I'm thinking that, for many people, the worst of the worst is the stuff that we do to ourselves. Obviously, there are many people for whom that is not the case. But my Worst - the thing that makes me feel like shit every time I think about it, and will for literally the rest of my life - was almost entirely my own doing.

Spill it.

Peripatetic wrote:

that damned fly wrote:thanks, the effort speaks volumes.

it was the fault peripatetic (which rhymes with very pathetic.) and partially me, for baiting him. when the reference went over my head.

oh well.

thanks assholes.

p.s.- by posting the jokes you shit on the the people who shared true painful events. thus making you assholes.

sometimes this place is better than that. sometimes not.

assholes.

You're probably right that damned fly. I apologize. I didn't realize my being a dumbass would attract more dumbasses.

I still think that Back to the Future shit was funny though...

I second that. It was pretty funny.


Mine:
Two good friends dying in a fire.

mayfair, i had no idea about this fucked-up shit and you. i hope you are doing better, like definitively better.

bronxcheer, i know 1000% how you feel, and i recommend that you spend some time screaming like a caveman. you may find, as i have, that it does some good.

kerble wrote:you know, I haven't seen the show or the films (even though I've been meaning to) and now I won't bother because you ruined it you fucking loser.

Having seen the series, I don't think that gives too much away. You can still watch it and be surprised, I hope.

Apologies if I missed something here...

MY GOD, MARK! I am so sorry to hear, and hope beyond hope that you end up all good. Everybody send your best vibes to Mark (Mayfair). He is as good a guy as you will ever meet, and very much deserves them.

And guys with the jokes, please keep it off this thread. Didn't you get it, you toasted the other thread, so this one had to be started for the serious dialog that a lot of us value... don't shit all over people when they're opening up so much, please! Please don't disrespect these people like that, PLEASE.

I have had two friends die young (one in his mid 20's). I went on a vacation to central america with my then-girlfriend... we broke up in Honduras, a few days later I arrived home at the airport, unexpectedly met by my sister who was there to tell me my dad was in the hospital with lung cancer. (He has since made as great a recovery as one could hope for, :knock on wood:). My mother's mother has been in the late stages of Alzheimers for YEARS now. Alzheimer's is very, VERY bad thing for the person who has it, and especially moreso for the people who love them.

I feel like nothing really bad has happened to *me*. But that doesn't really matter, because it hurts so much more when bad things happen to people I care about.

Not to be all hippie or anything, but seriously, peace and love and all manner of hope to you guys.

sparky wrote:

kerble wrote:you know, I haven't seen the show or the films (even though I've been meaning to) and now I won't bother because you ruined it you fucking loser.

Having seen the series, I don't think that gives too much away. You can still watch it and be surprised, I hope.

Apologies if I missed something here...

He's right Faiz.

toomanyhelicopters wrote:MY GOD, MARK! I am so sorry to hear, and hope beyond hope that you end up all good. Everybody send your best vibes to Mark (Mayfair). He is as good a guy as you will ever meet, and very much deserves them.

Mayfair, I don't know you in real life, but I wish you well all the same.

toomanyhelicopters wrote:And guys with the jokes, please keep it off this thread. Didn't you get it, you toasted the other thread, so this one had to be started for the serious dialog that a lot of us value... don't shit all over people when they're opening up so much, please! Please don't disrespect these people like that, PLEASE.

Keep in mind that the Major started this thread. He was my original partner in hijacking the other thread. That kind of makes it funny that I took the joke too far here. Irony.

And B. Nobody's shitting on anybody. Do you honestly think I'm like, "fuck your cancer Mayfair, here's some funny shit!" Come on, man.

toomanyhelicopters wrote:I have had two friends die young (one in his mid 20's). I went on a vacation to central america with my then-girlfriend... we broke up in Honduras, a few days later I arrived home at the airport, unexpectedly met by my sister who was there to tell me my dad was in the hospital with lung cancer. (He has since made as great a recovery as one could hope for, :knock on wood:). My mother's mother has been in the late stages of Alzheimers for YEARS now. Alzheimer's is very, VERY bad thing for the person who has it, and especially moreso for the people who love them.

You have my thoughts too, tmh. I have Alzheimer's experience. Not with a parent, but with an uncle so I do know how much it sucks, and what it does to people. I can't even fathom dealing with it if one of my parents were striken. I wish you and your family well.

I didn't want to go off, I would just feel really bad if people thought my making a joke was being purposefully hurtful to someone else. Unless of course I directed the joke at them in which case they probably deserved it.

Thanks for using my quote in your signature line tmh, it only adds to the irony.

Thanks for the nice wishes. I am lucky to be where I am right now.... I had the 'good kind' of cancer, so they say. It was in certain areas that were able to be surgically removed with no treatment needed once I had clear margins. I feel very very lucky to be clear of it now (knock on wood again). I will continue scans and checks for the rest of my life but that is fine by me. This of course was very shocking and out of the blue and had put some very dark thoughts in my head that have been hard to shake. I am mostly over recouping from the third surgery... feeling pretty good and back to normal pretty much. Now I must start a better diet, excercize, sleep patterns, etc....good things in, bad things out. A good attitude and humor towards the situation has helped fight off the seriously scary thoughts of how this might have ended up. I feel very very lucky.

So thanks for the nice wishes. They are much appreciated. Really.


And no offense taken Peripatetic. I know you were just having fun....nothing to do with my post... no worries.

And Don, so sorry to hear about you and your wife's situation. I hope the healing goes fast and the adjustment is as easy as can be.