Eduardo Oviedo

Adrian O.

Period 4

April 10,2012

My mother came from Costa Rica in 1975. Two year prior to that my Grandpa came from Costa Rica.  My grandpa was a construction worker. He worked here for ten years as an immigrant. Once my mother came her he already had a house for them to live in. The house was located in Downey. In 1985, they finally became legal and moved to Lynwood.

  

He managed to get a house because of a family friend she lived in Downey when he first came here.  They were able to help him get a little apartment right next to their house. Then a few years later they moved to Lynwood. About three years later my Grandpa had to have heart surgery. He had to have because if he didn’t he would have had a heart attack. His heart condition was clog arteries. If you don’t go see a doctor you can have a heart attack at anytime. “Atherosclerosis a buildup of cholesterol and fat that makes the arteries narrower so less blood can flow through. Those buildups are called plaque” (Dowshen). What this means is that blood would have stop reaching his heart at certain point.

         

After he had his heart surgery my grandpa was working on a truck and the wheel fell from the jack onto his figure. There were two teenage boy were passing by and saw what happened so they went to get help. When help got there they were able to lift the wheel then my grandpa fainted. Then they took him to the hospital and put bandages on it. That night my grandpa couldn’t take the pain. So they took him to the hospital and they had to cut off his finger because he had gangrene. “Gangrene is a term that describes dead or dying body tissue(s) that occur because the local blood supply to the tissue is either lost or is inadequate to keep the tissue alive. Gangrene has been recognized as a localized area of tissue death since ancient times. The Greeks used the term gangrene to describe putrefaction (death) of tissue. Although many laypeople associate the term gangrene with a bacterial infection, the medical use of the term includes any cause that compromises the blood supply that results in tissue death. Consequently, a person can be diagnosed with gangrene but does not have to be infected". (Davis) This means that tissue is dying which if not taking care of can spread to your and you can die. The only way to stop it is to cut off the part that has it.

These are some cool stories I heard about my grandpa even though he had heart surgery he lived a happy life. After his finger was gone he would mess with little kids by telling them if they touch something they aren’t suppose to a lady would cut off their finger and he would show them his finger.