I go for months without posting a thread for myself here at DS PTSD to as to give newcomers' needs first dibs.  And then suddenly I'm posting a crisis thread one after another 2 days in a row.  When it rains it pours, huh?

Yesterday's was a call for support because I came close to fainting at home alone from chronic kidney disease (CKD) from overprescribed PTSD meds like I've collapsed 4 times before.  Thanks for your support, y'all, I'm feeling stronger today.  Since the last episode lasted a week in July I'm really happy to feel stronger so soon.

I was knocked over this morning, then, to find out though I'm recovering from my CKD episode, not so from Covi-19 for a friend of mine from the college i just retired from teaching at this past May.  He'd been in the hospital for a month fighting the coronavirus.  He gave it to his elderly mother, and she wound up not only in the hospital, too, but in the very same room with him, her adult son.

I kept up with their progress via Zoom 3 times a week all month.  Things got bad for them both, and the doctors had to resort to tracheotomies for them both.  I was a hospital chaplain in Chicago and Kansas City for 10 years and was called to every one of those because they're risky, so I've seen a lot of them.

Hers was first last week, and it worked, so she was discharged.  I figured his would go at least as well, being so much younger, and over the weekend it seemed it did the trick.

But then I got up this morning to the news he died.  It's about a friendship I've had for 10 years. My first friend that died of covid-19 went in 3 days, so it was a shock, too.  In that case we'd been friends for 38 years.  I spoke at the funeral via Zoom, it was so weird we couldn't even grieve together and hug.

Those who know me here know friends are family to me because on my therapist's suggestion I have no ties with my violent family of origin after my criminal mother and father were both arrested for felonies.  I've been here on DS PTSD for 9 years now and there are folks here who are like family to me, too.

Thanks for your support to my post yesterday asking for support for my CKD episode.  You gave it and I'm grateful.  The only reason I ask again now for support in this death is that I believe in your support so much, so support welcome.  This week has sucked twice now, but your support made it better once and I believe it can again.