flâneur

Dr. Wilson - by Grant Gregory - Embers

grantgregory.substack.com · 1,675 words · saved by 1 readers

When my grandfather Larry was very young, he got a Mastoid infection. It was so severe that they had to do extensive surgery. Afterwards he had to let fluids drip out of his ears — daily — for weeks on end. I remember him telling me how painful it was, he had no sense of balance and his head was pounding. He was only 9. Larry survived, and he knew how lucky he was, because his doctor repeatedly reminded him that he should have died. But he didn’t. Fittingly, he went on to become a doctor, serve in the Navy, build a private practice, and a family. He went from being Larry to Dr. Wilson, to Lieutenant, and then to Dad. Then he had his second encounter with death. He suffered a stroke at 59, which at the time was almost certainly a death sentence. By extremely good fortune, one of my grandfather’s closest doctor friends was working on an experimental drug. It’s the one we now use today to treat strokes. The hospital staff was hesitant to administer it, but he insisted. That saved my grand

Very few people in the world can say they escaped death. My Grandfather was one of them. It’s a rare thing to be able to say, obviously so. But what’s even more unusual is saying you escaped it 3 separate times. When my grandfather Larry was very young, he got a Mastoid infection. It was so severe that they had to do extensive surgery. Afterwards he had to let fluids drip out of his ears — daily — for weeks on end. I remember him telling me how painful it was, he had no sense of balance and his head was pounding. He was only 9. Larry survived, and he knew how lucky he was, because his…

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