Codependency kills.
No really. I knew that addicts can easily kill somebody else while driving under the influence, and they eventually kill themselves from the side effects of whatever chemical they're addicted to. What I've recently learned in the program of Al-Anon is the my codependency is just as dangerous as a chemical addiction.
What I did was I neglected my own health. Skipped doctor and dentist visits, didn't get checkups. All in the name of getting my pill-head wife to change. My life style became ever more stresful as I tried to keep our faltering business afloat, look after her needs and get myself back to school to find a new career. Can you spell "stress"?
Last October I had a heart attack as well as a minor stroke. Had I been taking care of my health properly the docs would have been able to see it coming. I could at least have postponed it a couple decades, if not prevent it altogether. Since October my health has improved enough for me to take a very low stress job, and my emotions have improved as a result of Al-Anon.
I've been going to lots of doctors, finally doing what I should have done years ago. They found a small hole in my heart, technically called a "Atrial Septal Defect". A fairly common condition they _could_ have diagnosed years ago, if I'da shown up.
I also have a fairly defective pancreas, which causes a condition called "hypoglycemia". It's gotten much worse with stress. The heart and the pancreas are messing with each other, and things are going bad in a hurry.
The good news is I'm being scheduled for surgery. They're going to fly me out to some fancy-pants clinic and do open heart surger as well as some kind of partial transplant of my pancreas. Tomorrow I get to spend all day with my docs working out the details and trying to get the insurance company to cough up some cash. I'll be outta town for a couple weeks, soon as I get a date, and then flat on my back in bed for at least 3 months.
I'll let you guys know before I go, and I'll get back online as soon as I'm well enough.
For those of you who haven't been taking care of your own health, my story will eventually become your story. I'm praying for you, and that the program works it's miracles in your life the way it has in mine.
I hope the nurses are cute, I need to learn how to date again.
Mike :-)