Big :eek: today
I work with a guy named “Al”. He works in the plant, I’m an engineer. We used to work pretty closely until they rejiggered production a few years back so that my products weren’t made out of my production facility. Al is a great guy, and we got along well.
About a year ago, I saw Al out in the plant and was astonished. Al had been a big guy (probably ~275 lbs on a 5’9" frame.) He had lost a lot of weight, in a good way (at least I thought so at the time.) Probably 50 lbs or so.
“Jesus, Al, you look great! What happened?”
“Well…I gave up drinking.”
“Keep it up man, you look healthy as hell!”
“…”
Another year passed, and I stopped seeing him a few months back. Didn’t really pursue it, as I spend most of my time in the lab now and not in the plant. But he was in our office building today and I ran into him.
Rather, he ran into me. I didn’t even recognize him until he spoke up, “Hey, GameHat!”
:eek: “Holy Christ, Al?”
He’s down about 100 lbs total by now. He looks healthy and fantastic. Much thinner, much better color.
“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?! You look…sleek! And healthy!”
“Yeah, that happens when they cut part of you out.”
“…huh?”
“Yeah…I had a pretty bad kidney disease. I had been on dialysis for a couple of months. Fortunately my wife was a good donor match, so they took out both of mine a couple of months ago and she gave me one of hers.”
:eek:
/gobsmacked
“Uh…um…how are you feeling?”
“Great!”
“Jesus Christ man, good to see you. You look fantastic. um…uh…you didn’t tell anyone you were going through this?” (Al had apparently been working 12-hour shifts, then going for a few hours dialysis, rinse, repeat. Then FMLA for two months.)
“Nah, didn’t want to risk my job if they knew I was sick.”
:eek:
Holy God.
Well, it seems to have worked out. Al looks better than I’ve ever seen him. And he’s back at work. So three cheers to you, Al, you magnificent bastard. I hope you live to 100; you’re a solid guy and you’ve earned it. And three cheers to your wife, who apparently saved your life.
