A week after my wedding the Maid of Honour and Best Man got engaged. He’s not very well- he’s got some sort of genetic disease, although I don’t remember which one- something to do with body tissues being weaker than they ought to be, and I know he’s had open-heart surgery already. He started bleeding from the kidney a few weeks ago, was treated, and seemed all right-ish, but a couple of days ago one of his lungs collapsed.
It was re-inflated, but they’re both very, very worried and my poor darling best friend sounds closer to hysterical than I’ve ever heard her before. The wedding is scheduled for August, and as far as I know they’re going to go ahead with it- I think they want to be married even if only for a short while.
Dopers who pray, please pray that he’ll get better, and have a long and happy marriage. My own mother was married to her first husband at 22, and widowed at 24. I talked to her about my friend’s situation, and she said she had no regrets at all, and she didn’t think my friend would either, even if their married life was short.
I’m crying all over they keyboard and lit’ll short out if I’m not careful. I wish I was closer to my friend- she’s in Texas and I’m in Ontario. I can’t think of a good way to end this. Thank you for listening.
Your friend and her fiance are in my thoughts, Lissla.
My grandfather ended up losing his first wife just a few months after they were married - sudden death, they called it back in those days, while she was asleep next to him one night… They were both very young… he has never regretted it, of course… and with some luck, your friend and her fiance will have years ahead of them. Never underestimate the wonders of the medical world, nowadays…
Thank you, everyone. I’m going to buy a phone card tomorrow and call them. I miss them so much without all this crap happening, it’s a thousand times worse with them so far away.
God willing, I’ll be able to make a silly speech at their 40th wedding anniversary, and remind everyone that David wooed his wife with such charming compliments as: “If you were a glass thermometer, I wouldn’t drop on the floor like I did a lot of thermometers in Science class” and “If you were a filing cabinet, I wouldn’t use you to butter a piece of toast. That would be weird and impractical”.
And also remind them that he bought her a Trucking magazine a a joke Valentine’s gift.
If I’d married the man I loved at twenty, I’d have been widowed at thirty-one. As it is, I still miss what turned into a loving friendship, one that lasted the rest of his life. I really hope they get to spend many more years together.
To echo what’s already been said - medicine makes great strides every day. Either a cure for his condition or a way to treat the symptoms may be just around the corner. In a way I almost envy them for one thing. They have a kind, loving, strong friend. You.
I won’t just say I’ll pray for you all. I stopped and actually did it.
Both sides of my family struggle with debilitating heart diseases, many of which start fairly young (late 20’s to early 30’s). I’m trying to be as healthy as possible on a college schedule (I’m 20) because I do not want to leave my future spouse early.
My paternal grandfather died fairly young, of a heart attack. The only reason he got to see all his children married was because his youngest child married at 16. My mother’s cousin died at 20-something of heart disease; his son was four.
I can’t imagine having a genetic disorder over which I have no real control. My heart goes out to your friends.
