Page 275 - Total War on PTSD

Unfortunately, I didn’t change any of my bad habits that probably contributed to my health, namely smoking. I guess I was still feeling like the invulnerable Veteran, because three years later, I was driving on the freeway, drinking a cup of coffee and smoking a cigarette, and began feeling a pain in my chest, and woke up four days later in a hospital room. I was told I suffered another aneurysm in the thoracic region of my aorta and had to undergo emergency repair. This was my second open heart surgery, and like before, I was discharged from the hospital in 30 days.
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
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