Not that I enjoy expressing sad news to you my loyal readers, but this truly is where the cure is as bad as the disease. A hotel housekeeping supervisor who I have known for a few years passed away last week. I was off on the day it happened and so I learned about it fourth hand and not altogether certain how much I’m conveying is actually the truth.
So, anyway this supervisor was well known and well liked by his coworkers and those under him. He appeared laid back and quite at ease with himself, exuding self-confidence. I suspected that he was probably gay because that’s how he came across to me and everyone else, an effeminate approach to life in attitude and deed.
Now, according to the person who told me what allegedly happened. He was sitting at his desk and closed his eyes. According to him, the supervisor had lost his kidney function resulting in renal failure. As I said, this is fourth hand information and I’m not the dependable narrator I like to be especially in the next paragraph because I am only hypothesizing here.
He always, especially in the few months I ran into him as sickly, from what I can’t say with accuracy. I’m assuming this issue, if he indeed was gay, could be HIV, which if he was taking the prescribed medication has serious side effects that includes kidney function issues.
For the most part, if a person does test positive for HIV, most modern prescribed medications are safe to use that help those infected lead healthy long-term lives. Just like with my dad though, when whatever ails you begin to affect kidneys and liver, your time above ground is limited no matter what medications out there can help alleviate the symptoms.
My dad didn’t have HIV but type one diabetes and insulin that helped keep his blood sugar stable, also had really bad side effects. These side effects also included renal and liver disfunction resulting in death.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” paraphrasing Ben Franklin, though he was referring to fire prevention in home in Colonial Philadelphia, but I believe it applies here as well. Proper diet and protected sexual practices go a long way to not taking pharmaceuticals in the first place.
Jerry Schellhammer 