Thomas Hildreth:
CLASS OF 1979
Centennial High SchoolClass of 1979
Champaign, IL
Thomas's Story
I stayed here in Champaign till I joined the Army in 1981 - 1984. I was a paratrooper which turned out not to be too good for my knees. After the military in "84" I started working for a property management company doing repairs and painting. After several years of that I got a full time job. When that ended I started working for myself doing Painting , carpentry , Electrical , Plumping. Remodeling and repairs is what I do to this day.
I married in 1990. I was 29 she was 19. Bad Move. I was ready to settle down but she was not. We had a child ( baby girl ). Wife could not handle taking care of her . I left my wife in Jan. "93" When are duaghter Jessica was only 1yr. 2 months. Went and got set up elsewhere with new baby stuff and returned to my wife to demmand I take are baby . She gave her to me and I have been raising her myself since then. I can tell you that I had learned to respect single parents. You can only know how hard it can be if you have done it.
I tried dating for a while , it was hard to find time. I decide that I would not date till she got older. I didn't think it a good idea to possibly be dating different women that might not work out and she would have to see a relationship start and end. I wanted to teach her a life lesson of Commitment and Sacrifice. I have been commited to raising her and put aside what I want. ( She gets it )
I quit drinking alcohol in 1988 - 1992. Started drinking to socailize. Thought I could control it. (WRONG) When I got in trouble again 1996 , with my drinking I was afraid of loosing custody of my daughter. That was my final wake up. Been sober every since then.
In 2005 I was having a hard time walking.Went to see a doctor for the first time in 12 years. Found out I had severe circulation problems in my legs.With futher checking , high blood pressure , high blood sugar , and other high readings. They decide to check my heart and discovered that sometime before 2005 I have had a heart attack. With more test they find that I had 3 bad arteries. 2 wer...Expand for more
e completely closed and my heart was trying to make new ones. This resulted in me having a triple bypass. While I was recovering from surgery several weeks later I felt my face go numb on one side, Scared my to death (almost). Home healthcare nurse was do by so I waited for her . Went to the hospital and found out that I had caught a virus called Bells Palsey. It attacks the nerves in your face. Most people recover fully from it , I guess that in my weakend state at the time I did not. My right eye feels weak and waters easly to this day. Next problem I had was on my leg where they harvested the artery for my bybass was not healing. They watched it slowly rot for months trying all different things to get it to heal. Blaming my blood sugar and other things. In Sept. they said they might have to cut my leg off. ( I SAID I THINK NOT! ) When is anybody going to do something about the bad circulation in my legs I ask? They said what is wrong with your legs? DUH! That is what I started going to the doctor for!!!!! ( I think that too many brain smarts can make you loose common sense ) So they run more test and find out that I have a blockage in my Aorta That was preventing Blood flow to my legs. AHA! So I was cut the rest of the way open starting a half inch from the bypass scar and going down below the belt. (Be very careful I told them) This surgery was called a Aorta bilateral femorol bipass. After that my leg started to heal. ( Imagine that ) After all this I am doing pretty good , I can walk farther but still have clots in my lower legs. My feet tingle and feel cold but are not discolored. Tryng to walk more and possible get the viens to open more on thier own. My doctor said that we can try to do bypasses but if it does not work and supply blood for healing the insissions that I would loose my lower legs. So I'll try exercise and watch for discoloration for now. GO SEE YOUR DOCTORS PEOPLE.
Now days I am a pretty easy going guy , so no matter who you are , drop a note , e-mail or something and say HI!
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