Question for Wuapinmon on CJD

[wuapinmon]

No; it's a reference to the rather ignoble end met by the once-valiant Pyrrhus.

And I'm sure your reference was free from any kind of double entendre.

[Babs]

And I'm sure your reference was free from any kind of double entendre.

Well, I'm certain that one so highly qualified in lit crit as yourself, in spite of having overlooked the historical allusion, can muster a reasonably accurate interpretation of the post.

[wuapinmon]

Well, I'm certain that one so highly qualified in lit crit as yourself, in spite of having overlooked the historical allusion, can muster a reasonably accurate interpretation of the post.

Another nag throwing tiles.

[Solon]

No; it's a reference to the rather ignoble end met by the once-valiant Pyrrhus.

Nice work, Babs! We need more ancient history jokes.

[Babs]

Nice work, Babs! We need more ancient history jokes.

And just where have you been? I threw out that lead-balloon joke especially for you, and here you stand me up.

[Solon]

And just where have you been? I threw out that lead-balloon joke especially for you, and here you stand me up.

Real life called, but that's no excuse.

I'd love a second chance. I won't let you down.

[wuapinmon]

As far as I know, my dad didn't ever commit anthropophagy. I'll be happy to answer any and all questions about Johnny Mac later this weekend. I have to drive a bus full of students to Savannah tomorrow morning, and I need my beauty sleep.

His was the sporadic kind, the brain just started folding proteins the wrong way. We had him tested. It wasn't variant or hereditary (THANK GOD). He started showing symptoms, truly, about four months before, though he had been a dickhead for the last year of his life, on and off. He was manic depressive, and we originally thought he was having a prolonged manic episode, like ALL of August 2007. In June he drove our moving truck from NOLA to South Carolina. In July he was making up lies about everything he did. In August he began the fatal insomnia phase, with us still thinking that he was manic, or faking. In late August he quit speaking in normal sentences. By mid-September he was in the hospital, by late September he was in a persistent vegetative state....by mid October, kidney dialysis and a ventilator. Around the middle of October _I_ told the doctors it might be CJD, but they wouldn't do a spinal tap, because he was on dialysis, to confirm.

10-29-07 he had a subdural hematoma on his brain and he quit "tolerating dialysis." 10-30-07 we slowly weaned him off life support. About 2 hours after he was breathing on his own, bradychardia and repeated apneas overwhelmed his heart and he slipped away.

The worst fucking thing about the disease was his eyes were open and he startled at any sound...like any sound would give him a full on startle, throw-out-his-arms reflex.

He got repeated blessings that he would be healed. When I got to the hospital on 10-29, I gave him one and we released him from all previous blessings and this life. Hardest thing I've ever done. After he died, about an hour later, I went back in to say goodbye one last time. I reached out to touch his hand, and I recoiled at the chill of death.

10-30-07
10-30-12

[Clark Addison]

I missed this thread. Though I have heard you talk about your father's death many times, somehow I have missed that it was CJD. I know a man who died from it as well. It was amazing how quickly it progressed. From the first sign to his death was about 4 months. I received regular and detailed updates and they were heartbreaking and terrifying. Sorry you had to go through that Wuap.

[New Mexican Disaster]

10-30-07
10-30-12

The anniversiaries start adding up fast. I just passed 15 myself.

[Tim]

The anniversiaries start adding up fast. I just passed 15 myself.

I spent a couple hours looking through letters from my mom to me when I was a missionary a couple weeks ago. Hadn't felt emotional about losing her for a number of years, but while I read the letters my heart started pounding and my eyes welled up a few times. Mostly it just made me smile a lot, though. I'm grateful for that.

[dabrockster]

10-30-07
10-30-12

When my Father passed away and my brother's and I prepared him for his casket, I was scared to death of "death" and what it would be like in that room with him on a table.

It was heartbreaking beyond anything I ever imagined to see him that way. To not have him stand up and say "What the Hell is going on here"!! Or crack some sarcastic joke.

The first moment I reached out and touched him he was cold.. I thought I was going to recoil or be scared of it, but I was not.. I was surprised by my feelings. And stood there holding his hand and stroked the top of his hand (Like he did for me when he was in the hospital that day I weeped by his bed side.). It was hard to let go. I didn't want to let go of him.. I knew it was the last touch of his hand I was going to have in my lifetime and I didn't want it to end.. I still view this moment as very spiritual and one of closure for me.. Not full closure because I am not sure I will ever have it by the way it all went down..


Funny how things (Memories) can make you weep in an instant. Huh...

[wuapinmon]

Funny how things (Memories) can make you weep in an instant. Huh...

Yeah, it is.