Page 235 - Total War on PTSD

This time the surgeon described the unhealthy condition of my arteries and informed me there was another aneurysm in the abdominal region of my aorta, but due because the medical staff felt to repair the third aneurysm would require too much time under anesthesia, and I should give my body sufficient time to recover from the previous operation. I waited a year and scheduled the operation for November 2nd, 2009. I had every expectation this operation would play out as the last two. Little did I know how wrong I was. I was given a pre-operation brief, and expected the operation to take around six hours, and I would be back at work in thirty days. This time however, I awoke two weeks later, hands tied to the railings, using a breathing apparatus, and unable to move my legs.
I was barely conscious, and the doctors attempted two unsuccessful attempts to remove the Bilateral Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) machine. On the third attempt, I could barely breathe on my own. My father and my then girlfriend, Sonia, took turns watching over me as a fought to simply breathe. It took all my strength to simply expand my lungs and take in air. After a few hours, I sent my Sonia out of the room and stopped fighting.
I was too tired to continue, and I was about to give up and let myself die. My father came back in the room and essentially ordered me to keep fighting. I looked at him attempting to say I couldn’t go any farther, and he simply kept ordering me to keep fighting and keep breathing. When Sonia returned for her turn to watch over me, she let me know in no uncertain terms that I was not going to be able to kick her out of the room again. I resigned myself to the situation and just began to focus on the next breath. Eventually, my lungs began to clear, and my breathing became close to normal. It was only then I was able to ask how long I was going through this, and I was told by the doctor it was just short of eight hours.
It was a bit later that I would learn that my battle to stay alive was far from over. When the doctor explained to me that the aneurysm had burst, and I lost blood flow to my Spinal Cord resulting in my paralysis, the doctor explained that my internal organs also suffered damage. My kidneys were rendered completely inoperable, my bladder and
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