The former MEP of New Democracy, Stelios Kyboroupoulos, celebrated the completion of one year since the successful outcome of a difficult surgery he underwent, with a post on X.
“Today yes, I celebrate because I am alive! Is there a greater blessing than this?” emphasizes Stelios Kyboroupoulos and adds: “Last summer was very difficult for me. Not because I had to undergo some serious surgery, it was a gallbladder removal, but because to do that, I had to also undergo a tracheostomy… my greatest fear!”
The operation lasted about 9 hours because there were complications during the surgery “which could have been fatal if it weren’t for the excellent medical team of the public hospital ‘LAIKO’.”
Stelios Kyboroupoulos’s Post
Exactly one year ago in the ICU of the LAIKO hospital. Today yes, I celebrate because I am alive! Is there a greater blessing than this?
Last summer was very difficult for me. Not because I had to undergo some serious surgery, it was a gallbladder removal, but because to do that I had to undergo a tracheostomy… my greatest fear! You know, my voice is my main tool, and if I lost that what would I do? The fellow doctors lacked the data, as there were no similar reports in the literature regarding my case! I spent a summer filled with fear, with the sadness that after this operation my life would end since the tracheostomy would be permanent, despite the multiple assurances from the doctors that it would only be temporary. The fear, however, dominated for over four months! The day of the surgery I didn’t want it to come because I wanted to have a little more life free, even with this overwhelming fear.
Finally, the surgery began on August 29, 2023. The entire duration lasted about 9 hours (yes for a typical removal procedure) because there were complications during the surgery that could have been fatal if it weren’t for the excellent medical team of the public hospital ‘LAIKO’. When I woke up, the fear had disappeared and reality had come alive… I had to take my first breath in a life I didn’t want. I breathe… on my own… now through my neck. My whole body hurts. I didn’t even know that I had been unconscious for 9 hours! I breathe and hear the first voices of the staff, says Stelios Kyboroupoulos. They were now familiar voices… they had been by my side for 4 months, constantly talking to me about this day, this moment.
When I woke up, the process began to move me to the ICU that they had prepared. Before the elevator, we made a stop to let my loved ones see me quickly. There were two people. My girlfriend, who throughout this time was my support in the unequal fight against fear, and another person whose name I cannot remember. The only thing I could do was to shape a kiss with my lips. Everything had gone well and the journey to the Unit had begun… I stayed in the Unit for three nights and this experience deserves to be written into a book, a promise I have made to myself!
So today I celebrate… I plunged into fear not knowing if I would succeed. I made a difficult choice, without wanting to. All I knew was that I was trying to move forward and find my way back to my dreams.
Today, a scar on my neck reminds me of last summer! A scar on my neck is there to remind me that it was my strength after all, and an inseparable piece that I had to go through!
Eternal thanks to my brotherly friend Dimitris Schiza, Mrs. Lambadariou, Professor Mr. Felekouras, Mr. Koutsoumpas, and their teams (residents and nursing staff), my personal assistant Dimitris, and my friend Katerina Linardakou for the fight they fought with me. For not fearing for even a moment! For the promise they gave me that everything would be alright! And it was! I am here and I continue! Isn’t that life after all? concludes Stelios Kyboroupoulos.
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