12 minutes it took to get to Canberra Hospital, perhaps the best place in the world she could be.. I drove fast enough to be efficient, though not too fast to be pulled over. It was a horrible place to be, driving, powerless to help my moaning wife. 8 hours later my wife came out of open brain surgery, where her brain aneurysm had been “clipped”. She had been cut pretty well from ear to ear, just above her hairline. Nice!. If this had happened at our house, in our town, it would have involved diagnosis in another regional hospital and ultimately, a helicopter trip. 14 days later, (she had a little problem that delayed her recovery) she came home, and 6 months after that she went back to hospital for another brain operation, though this time, on her birthday, she had 3 metres of palladium wire inserted into her brain via keyhole surgery starting in her leg. :Coiling”, it is called. Amazing technology as they coil the wire, yes, 3 meters of it, into the aneurysm, to block the flow. That will be 2 years ago this Sunday. She is as good as gold, or should I say palladium. Not a bad birthday present, even if I did not have to pay for it. Not one cent! I even got to stay at the hospital for those 2 weeks, in residence. Free and no private health cover.
Last year, I came down with Liver Cancer, as a result of contracting Hepatitis C back in 1978. Back then it was diagnosed as Non A, non B, as Hep C was not discovered. Great advances in health have been made this century, and one of them was a non invasive cure for Hepatitis C, problem was, it was expensive. The Hepatitis had been chewing away at my Liver for 4 or so decades. In the last couple of years the Australian Government worked out that, overall, it was going to be cheaper to cure these unfortunates than it was going to be to let them die. (Lost revenue and all.) So, after $AUD 92,000 worth of tablets, (one per day for 90 days) I was not only cured, but diagnosed with Cirrhosis of the Liver. I was then strongly encouraged to have liver scans, (Ultra sounds mostly) every 6 months. These scans ultimately found a spot, which turned out to be a cancerous lesion. Again I had keyhole surgery where they stuck a probe into my liver, turned the heat up and burnt the lesion. I was in hospital one night. The scary thing with Liver cancer is that if there is pain, it is usually too late. I had no physical symptoms. Yesterday, 6 months after my treatment I got the all clear from my latest CT Scan. Things are on the up.
These events are not about me hitting rock bottom, but part of my journey after that, on the way up. 30 years of drug addiction will do that to you. There may be some here that are happy to learn that I no longer drink too!
I live by the adage that “Every adversity in life has the seed to a greater or equal benefit..” Love your partner like there is no tomorrow.. That’s all I can say. Take care Walrus.
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