Health Lessons from my dad

This post documents in detail what happened to my dad(he passed away) and the lessons to be learned from our experience:

• At the age of 60 and above, anything that is unusual or does not feel normal should be cause for alarm. Get immediate medical help if any body part is painful 
• Any sign of discoloration merits an immediate trip to the hospital. When a limb turns grayish to purple, it could mean blocked blood flow which could result to cell or tissue death(necrosis)
• Blood flow should be restored immediately and in my dad's case, it was done with an emergency embolectomy where they had to surgically remove the blockage
• Once blood flow is restored, the damaged to the tissues must be assessed ASAP. If tissue or cell death has occurred then the patient must be convinced and prepared to undergo amputation. My dad did not want to undergo amputation
• If amputation is not done, the cells undergoing necrosis release harmful chemicals and toxins to the surrounding cells. This could trigger a chain reaction of further cell death.
• In my dad's case, the toxins released by the cells undergoing necrosis triggered renal(kidney) failure. When kidneys fail to filter properly, waste accumulates in the blood and the body. My dad's kidneys were already weak to begin with so he had to undergo dialysis twice.
• My dad also suffered from pneumonia which was most probably a complication from the failed kidneys and the toxins from his left foot

Please share this post with others as it really could save lives. Thanks.

My father passed away

My father passed away at the age of 69 on the eve of my 33rd birthday.

It happened in Heart Center where he was confined from July 6 2010.

He was initially admitted because of blocked bloodflow to his left foot. Blood flow was restored by an operation but the foot did not recover. The doctors recommended immediate amputation but my father wouldn't have it. Gangrene set on, his kidneys failed and he went into cardiac arrest.

This is the first time that something like this happened to our family. I hope that others can take what happened to us as a very important lesson.