Redmayne

Since I was unexpectedly, with eight years sobriety behind me taken to hospital one night in early Sept.,2016 by emergency ambulance. Where was confronted by a surgeon who told me in o uncertain terms that whilst he and his team were prepared to operate, no one told me they had a choice!In was not expected to survive....

The cause of this dilemma was a bacterial infection, H.pylori, for the medically minded.Which further announced its arrival; by bursting on the way into the operating theatre causing further concerns over the development of a line of sepsis as a result of which I was placed in a medically induced coma which lasted a further five weeks. None of which I was expected to survive and if I did, not without incurring a disability...

Time spent in a Critical Care Unit followed by moves to a General Surgical Ward and what for me was laughingly called a Rehabilitation Unit, in truth it was nmo more than a halfway house for senior citizens recovering from minor injuries and infections and bore, other than the physiotherapy treatment I received to get me, in my physically and mentally weakened state, the result of the coma from which many never recover...Sw me discharged in a wheelchair on the 5th Dec.,2016.

Since which time my mental and physical abilities, as I was warned have, after being through an extremely stressful and traumatic experience slowly,very slowly recovered. There is,like recovery itself no easy way out of this...

During which time I've often reflected on the adversity I faced in my recovery from drinking compared with the events I've just described, after all they have many similarities perhaps not least in the risk of the end result if I didn't stay close, which I did once I regained consciousness to 'the God of my understanding' making daily use of the Serenity Prayer prove fatal or leave me disabled mentally or physically for the rest of my life drunk or sober...

The act that the lessons learned in adversity during my recovery from drinking have also helped me in many other ways. Given that, understandably most people have little comprehension or understand of what it's like to wake up from a medically induced coma, a near miracle in itself. To find yourself in an extremely, physically and mentally weakened state that you can't even begin to attempt to undertake those things that most of us take or granted in our daily lives. It doesn't register no matter how empathetic they are, a bit like , and this is just a personal view. That whilst I believe sobriety is an individual responsibility I can, in sharing my experience, strength and hope relate to another alcoholic...

I could write more but I think I've made my point, the lessons I learned in facing the adversity of recovering from my drinking have played a constructive part in my recovery from a severe bout of unexpected illness. As Seneca said, 'Adversity, is a training exercise,' and you can't buy or fake that...work at it and it and its effects stay with you...

Ken33xx

I experienced nothing as traumatic as the OP. However, I once had blood vessel break and one of my eyes became clouded with blood.

It was interesting how trials and tribulations of daily life immediately went on the back burner now that I had a real problem.

Redmayne

I can identify with this quite easily, perhaps not least having gone through a very stressful and traumatic experience, the surgeons words as my recovery from spending five weeks in a medically induced coma and my physical and mental powers, frustratingly slowly return it is becoming, despite t fact I am one of those fortunate to have no only survived it but done so without incurring any disability, my life has changed. Things that once present now no longer exist to be replaced by more pressing and immediate priorities...

'Every new beginning marks some other beginnings end,' - Seneca