DIALYSIS PATIENCE

Little did we know that something would happen that he never expected.

A nice sunny Saturday morning, we were talking in the dining room when I saw blood.  Blood was dripping from his nose to his shirt.  He didn’t even feel it.  “Look!” I shouted.  He said, “Look at what?”  I was pointing at his shirt.  He walked over to the mirror.  The blood was still dripping.  He ran and got a towel. He was cursing like a sailor.  I took the bloody towel and got another.  His blood pressure had been up but we didn’t think anything like this would be happening.  That day scared the mess out of him.  He called my mother and asked her if she wanted some cigarettes.  Of course she said yes and that day, in 1982, he quit smoking “cold turkey”.  I looked at him and smiled.  I told him he could do it and supported him all the way.   No patches, no new medicine gimmicks, he just quit.  Seeing blood was all it took.