I've got a riding buddy I've known for a number of years, Russ Beech. Russ is about ten years younger than I am and has supervised tree cutting crews for years. He enjoyed a good healthy life up until about six weeks ago.
His main complaint was an upset stomach, loss of appetite and generally not feeling well. Some blood work indicated a slightly elevated creatinine level. The doc put him on some steroids and a modified diet. He continued to decline and further testing indicated some rare autoimmune kidney disease. In two weeks he was in the hospital. Two weeks ago he was moved to the ICU. Funeral services are Saturday.
His trip from good health to the hearse was a short one. A stark reminder there are no guarantees at all during our time on earth. RIP Russ.
I'm sorry for your friend and his family. When my time comes I hope it is quick. I've seen too many friends and relatives linger in pain. It's like a preacher say, "I'm not afraid od death, I'm afraid of dying".
No guarantees is correct.
A few years back we had a survey project for a couple where it turned out the wife had grown up in the same general area as what I had. Her younger brother was a good buddy of mine in high school and the older brother was a friend I had gotten to know very well in more recent times. I had never met her until the survey when she would have been about 60.
In typical fashion, it took me too long to finish the paperwork. By the time I mailed the invoice out she was already dead, although I did not know that. A day or two later I bumped into her younger brother and commented that I had finished the survey for his sister and had mailed the goodies. He then told me the shocking news. She had developed a limp that rapidly got worse. She went to her family doctor and he had no idea what was going on. He sent here to a major hospital to have some tests run. She never left that hospital. It turned out she had one of the more rare cases of necrotizing fasciitis (flesh-eating disease) inside her leg. She died three days after walking into the hospital for some sort of testing.
The last time I talked to him (pre-hospital) it didn't seem like a big deal, we just rescheduled our "put-a-feed-bag-on" evening for a later date. Knowing his attitude I'm sure he was happy not to linger...as if that's some sort of consolation.
[USER=50]@Holy Cow[/USER]
You might get a kick out of this. Before Russ (the tree trimmer) took a turn for the worst we sent him a Bonsai Tree (complete with little lopping shears) in hopes he would have something to do while convalescing. In the lag between Amazon and shuffling him back and forth to different hospitals the tree was never delivered before he checked out. Amazon told us it was delivered but the hospital couldn't find it. I wasn't worried about it, just sorry he never got it.
Just got a phone call...a lady that works in the office at the hospital just happened to be in the mail room and saw the package. She usually sits behind Russ and his wife in church. Although she recognized the name she wasn't even aware Russ was briefly in the hospital where she works. She has now taken the tree to Russ's wife for safe keeping.
The Good Lord works in mysterious ways.
How about that!! Coinkydinks do occur.