Monday, May 30, 2011

Mulligan on life.

I have never swung a club at one golf ball but the slang for a free try can apply to this tale...



Two Sundays ago I was standing in line to pay a bill and I received a call from a friend of my Boy to tell me he was in a hospital over five hundred miles away. His liver and kidneys had shut down. I fought the urge to drive to him with the clothes on my back and just enough money in my pocket to pay for gas. Within hours I was on the road with all my things and Nice riding "shotgun" in the van. I was at his side the next morning in time for the doctors daily rounds when they ordered dialysis. A catheter would have to be put in his neck, a vein and an artery tapped to filter his blood to save his life.
He had taken a fistful of aspirin for the pain he was having from drinking too much alcohol for far too long. Already his body was breaking down, the overdose of aspirin sealed the deal, his kidneys shut down, his liver began to disintegrate into his bloodstream his stomach unable to function. Apparently this alcohol induced "brilliance" happens to many who think where one will not work a handful will. My son asked me to share this story despite his embarrassment which can be hard to swallow. With dialysis he was able to survive and is recovering after two weeks, others have suffered through three months of temporary renal failure before their kidneys resumed functioning again. Today he is a changed person, is convinced he will never drink again. He was given his" Mulligan" on life.

2 comments:

Cathy said...

I am so sorry to hear about Ethan's bad health.

I hope that his health improves to be 200%.

You're a great dad.

Arlene said...

Erik
I hope your son is doing better. We all have a time in our life when we need a Mulligan..
take care of you, too...