I don't get too personal on this blog, but I'll make an exception here. Mind stream follows...
A few weeks ago I posted that Black men need to get checked out.
A close cousin wasn't feeling well. After deciding which hospital was the best one to go to and when was the best time, he checked himself into a hospital thinking he was sick from a change in diet. When he checked himself in, his blood pressure was SKY high and the doctors worked to bring that down, which they did. However, he suffered some kidney damage from the VERY strong medicine they gave him.
He had blood in his urine and it turned out he had polyps on his colon. They removed the colon polyps and saw spots on his liver and they had to remove part of his kidney.
"Man, you know us Black men! We don't go to the doctor or get checked out!" That's why he told me when I first talked to him in the hospital. He said that in response to a doctor who said to him, "You're not in as good of shape as you thought you were."
It was said he had colon cancer and they gave him 6 months to live.
He died today (Friday), 4 weeks later, at home with his sister, mother, ex-wife, my daughter, and nurse around him, praying for him.
I had stayed the night because I got a call he wouldn't make it. I had to be there. This morning, I left to go home and wash up and then head back. After I got out of the shower, the call came saying he passed.
Grand total for services and burial? $9 - 10K when we are finished. A few of the family members are rallying around to pay funeral expenses.
My daughter works part-time in the hospital where he checked himself into. She's a transporter. She wheels people around. When he checked himself in, she was the one who took him to his room.
"Daddy. I don't understand. He came in feeling so-so, and now..."
His last day in the hospital, before he was released, he said, "If I knew I was this sick, I would have gotten checked out a long time ago."
Once at home, he was staying in his nephew's room and said he wanted his recliner chair from his house.
We got it.
Yesterday (Thursday) he left his room and got in the chair. Today (Friday) he died in the chair.
I think he left the room to die because he didn't want to die in his nephew's room.
I got checked out 2 weeks ago. I'm scheduling a colonostopy for the end of the week or the following week.
My cousins, who I track for health issues because we look so much alike and have shared mannerisms, have told me for years things to look out for, and I seem to be on their track.
High cholesterol? Check but I'm working on it.
I'm "in store" for high blood pressure even though I'm fine right now.
Again, Black men, get checked out.
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