Another passing

Today my uncle Butch passed away. This death was expected, and isn't as hard on me as my father-in-law's was. I wasn't very close to my uncle. He was still young, late 40's I think, but he died because of the bad decisions he made with his life.

My uncle was a schizophrenic, he talked to himself and at times thought he was Jesus. He also got into drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc since he was young. He had contracted hepatitis C from sharing drug needles, his lungs were bad from smoking, his liver and kidneys had failed from alcohol abuse, and recently he had gotten sudden severe diabetes they believe attributed to his recent diet change of eating only cakes and cookies.

Until now he had been living with my grandmother, since he was unable or unwilling to care for himself. She had recently just bailed him out of jail, on charges of assault with a knife. His wild behavior had also caused her to loose her home recently, so she's had to move suddenly to an apartment in a bad part of town (only one available on short notice).

We knew he didn't have long. A few days ago grandma called an ambulance to get him, since he could not get out of bed, and he had been suffering urinary and fecal incontinence with blood present. They would not let her visit him in the hospital because he was unresponsive and critical condition. He passed away this morning, it is my understanding that he was taken off of life support.

My mom had gone to see him at the hospital with my grandma. My mom tells me they had to go through security decontamination procedures in order to see him. I don't know if he had something infectious, but they took all kinds of precautions.

I will be trying to attend the funeral this Thursday. The only thing I can say to others about my uncle's life is too be smart about what decisions you make. Choosing drugs and partying may sound like a good way to enjoy life, but it really is a quick and painful way to die. Not to mention the pain of a mother who had to nurse her adult son, and now has to bury him.