This photo, taken five months after the fifth surgery, shows me wheelchair bound, awaiting a sixth surgery to save my left leg, a seventh surgery to remove the last set of the improperly placed implants, and, eventually, an eighth surgery to remove a damaged gall bladder! I was at this point awaiting death’s door to open to allow final passage to end my suffering.

Here is my friend Mark’s description of this photo:

“As the months wore on and I was certain that he was not going to survive, I was constantly amazed by his grace and courage in the face of such agony and hopelessness.”