My pappou died on Wednesday. His death has hit me like a ton of bricks. In the last two years we joked that we had similar blood tests, only he was in his nineties and I was in my twenties. Needless to say I felt more pathetic and even in that he beat me in his infinite grace. I wrote his obituary here:
http://interactive.usc.edu/members/mgotsis/archives/2007/05/panayiotis_poti.htmlPlease say a small prayer for his soul.
In the last two years he was taking EPO, iron and B12 injections. My aunt who took him to doctors alone wouldn't tell us what the actual diagnosis was. I was only able to diagnose him with macrocytic anemia of unknown cause and decreased kidney function by looking at one copy of tests. I know that he was quite old, but his decline in the last two years was explanable and I just want to know exactly what killed him. He was so healthy and his appetite was amazing. He even had all of his original teeth up to three years ago. He could have lived another ten years. I wish one of us had given him great grandchildren and I wish I didn't have to live abroad the past 12 years which kept me from seeing him regularly. At times like this, regret fills me with guilt.
Over Christmas, I also learned that sometime in his midlife, my grandfather contracted TB which cost him a seat as a judge because of the stigma TB carried in the 50s. In my entire life, nobody ever mentioned it. I just want people to know that secrecy of illness in families is wrong. Various illnesses carry stigma, but I beg you all to tell your children and grandchildren of any illness that runs in your family. That knowledge may one day save their lives or that of their children.