If this belongs somewhere else please move it but I wanted to share the story of my friend Jimmy. This seemed the most appropriate place to do so.
I believe it was Jimmy's aunt who wrote this piece.
Jimmy was one of the most selfless, loving, caring persons anyone could have met. He never met a stranger. It didn’t matter if you were a long-time friend who just needed to talk to someone, or some stranger that needed help pushing their car four blocks, Jimmy was there for you. He lived, laughed, and loved to the fullest every day. He was an amazing son; husband, brother, grandson, nephew, and dear friend to countless people, both near and far. If there was ever one person you knew you could always count on, it was Jimmy. But Jimmy had a secret battle, a demon as we came to call it, that he kept from family and friends so as to protect them from harm. Drug addiction; Heroine to be exact. Here is his story. (I am writing his story to the best of my knowledge. If I have something wrong, or forgot something, family especially, please let me know! I am hoping this is as accurate as possible!)
In August of 2011, at the age of 26, Jimmy was admitted to the emergency room in **** Virginia after having all the signs of heart failure; shortness of breath, coughing/wheezing, swelling of the feet, ankles, and legs, confusion, increased heart rate. After being admitted and describing what was going on, doctors performed an echocardiogram that revealed that all four of his heart valves were damaged, two of them severely. He needed heart surgery, and fast. By that afternoon, Jimmy had been life-flighted to *** Medical Center, and was in surgery to save his life. He needed two of his heart valves to be replaced with mechanical, steel valves, the other two valves repaired, part of his heart grafted and repaired, and his aorta grafted. We were told to prepare for the worst because of how much damage was done. But miraculously he survived his surgery and was sent to the Critical Care Hospital for recovery, later to be moved to the ***Heart Center at *** and then after several weeks of recovery, was sent back home. But what caused him to be in such bad condition? And to not even know about it until this?
For months prior to this, Jimmy had felt constantly sick. He would get better for a little while, but then a few short weeks later would be sick again. Doctors kept telling him it was bronchitis, then pneumonia. What it really was, was much worse. Jimmy had endocarditis. Endocarditis is inflammation of the inside lining of the heart chambers and heart valves (endocardium). Endocarditis can involve the heart muscle, heart valves, or lining of the heart. It begins when different germs enter the bloodstream and then travel to the heart. Bacterial infection is the most common cause of endocarditis. Germs are most likely to enter the bloodstream during injection drug use, from the use of unclean (unsterile) needles. And that is exactly what had happened. It was his own dirty needle. He didn't share needles.
After being discharged from the hospital, Jimmy was sent home with several medications, one of which was Coumadin. Coumadin (warfarin) is an anticoagulant (blood thinner). Coumadin reduces the formation of blood clots by blocking the formation of certain clotting factors. Coumadin (warfarin) is the active ingredient in rat poison. That being said, Coumadin is dosed, for humans, in a manner which prevents blood clotting (especially for those at risk), and does not act as a poison at the therapeutic dosage level. (However, when rats ingest the high concentrations of warfarin in rat poison, they bleed to death, internally.) He also had to go to weekly appointments to make sure his blood was at the therapeutic level for him. (2.5). At one point, he was re-admitted to the hospital for his blood levels being too high, but after a few days of observation, and an adjustment to the amount of Coumadin he needed to take, he was discharged. But little did friends and family know, Jimmy was hiding a secret, and was still fighting a personal battle.
Jimmy seemed to be on the road to recovery. Or so everyone thought. For several months everything seemed to be going well. He reconnected with friends, spent time with family, did art projects for his home, and so much more. But unbeknownst to everyone, he was still sick. On December 23, 2011, Jimmy was admitted into the hospital for the last time. After using heroine that had been cut with rat poison, Jimmy’s blood levels were way above his therapeutic, thus causing him to have several mini-strokes. Doctors put him in a medically induced coma so as to figure out what had happened. No one knew he had been using again, so the question to be answered was how had his blood levels become so high? Did he accidentally take his Coumadin too many times? Did he do that on purpose? How did this happen. No one knew until Jimmy woke up.
After a couple of days of being in and out of this medically induced coma to help prevent hemorrhaging in his brain, and the potential for further strokes, and the doctors running many tests, we came to find out that there was more going on than anyone knew or could have guessed. Not only had he had several mini-strokes that had lead him to lose part, if not most of his eye sight, but he also had MRSA. After looking further, we came to find out that Jimmy also had an aneurysm that was located right where his aorta had been grafted just a few months before. The MRSA was past the stage of responding to antibiotics, and surgery was not an option for Jimmy to fix the aneurysm. Jimmy was dying, and there was nothing that could be done to save him this time. There was a time or two we thought Jimmy may come home, so for a few days this fact was kept from him. Finally the doctors, after being a hundred percent sure there was nothing further they could do, they told Jimmy the truth. He was dying, that he had just a few days, maybe a week or two more, and they could not help him this time.
After being told this, Jimmy admitted to using again, that he had tried to keep this from friends and family so as not to hurt them further than he already had. He asked for forgiveness from family and friends, which was of course given. After being moved out of the Critical Care Hospital to the *** Heart Center, and was later moved to palliative care so he could rest comfortably until he decided it was time for him to leave and move on. Family and friends poured in from near and far to say their farewells. On December 30, 2011, at approximately 9:45 p.m. Jimmy passed away surrounded by the family that he loved dearly. He was free from the pain and suffering that had come with the demon called addiction. He now rests eternally free from harm, and is watching over friends and family, both near and far.
Before Jimmy passed away, he had one burning ambition. That was to spread his story as far as he could so as to teach someone else the horrible effects of drug addiction. He had hoped that one day his story would be heard by someone, who would learn from his secret battle, and that it would hopefully one day help them with theirs. He had hopes of speaking to teenagers, and young adults in school, of speaking in churches to younger and older adults alike, to tell everyone he could of his battle, and how it ended up affecting not only him, but his family as well. Unfortunately he never got the chance to do this. So I am here, and I am sharing his story. I hope that one day someone, young, or old, will hear his story, and that his story will touch someone enough to help them change. My hopes are to try and save another family from the pain and anguish that mine has had to go through. I am hoping to save another mother, wife, sister, family member, and dear friend from the loss of a love one.
Jimmy was one of the best men I knew. He was the best brother, husband, son, grandson, nephew, and friend that anyone could ask for. Please, let’s spread his story as far as possible so we can hopefully one day prevent another family from having to go through this too!