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Completely devastating for the family and the George Mason community. One of my best grade school friends, a NICU doctor, died of a brain aneurism in her early 30s. The rabbi who spoke at her funeral said, “When a mother buries her child, even G-d weeps.” I thought of that immediately when I read this story. My prayers are with his family.

@RoadRunner posted:

Blood clots are a common complication of any surgery. Always has been, covid or no covid.

About 10 years ago, I joined several good friends for a few days of skiing at Vail. One of them was the sort of guy who never did anything halfway; including skiing. At the end of his last day there, he skied down a black-diamond run called Lindsey's (formerly International), which is right in front of Vail village. I know in part because another buddy and I, who had already finished our ski day were watching him from the base of the slope in the village.

About 1/3 of the way down, we saw him take a nasty spill; and, when he finally found his way down to the bottom of the run, one of his heels was pretty sore. The next morning, he nursed it home; and, when he found his way to his doctor's office, it was diagnosed as a torn Achilles tendon.

A few days later, he underwent surgery. About a week after that, he awoke one morning; suddenly felt very bad, called his wife (who was already at work), and collapsed before he finished the call to her. He had suffered a blood clot from the surgery and died; leaving those of us who were close to him absolutely stunned and incredibly saddened for a wonderful life cut short from something we'd all considered relatively routine.

Ever since, I've carried a lot of respect for any sort of surgery; including that which seems commonplace. That's not to say that the risk isn't justified in a lot of cases; but, it should always be undertaken with a great deal of expert justification behind it.

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