I think that I can officially declare 2008 the worst year my family has ever had.
I just got home from spending 18 hours at the hospital, where my brother was taken by ambulance.
On Saturday morning his legs just stopped working. He was standing up one minute and then his legs just gave out on him and he fell. Luckily he called for an ambulance, and he was rushed the hospital. At first doctors thought it was a blood clot, which is serious, but pretty easy to treat if you catch it. It turned out to be a torn aorta, which can kill you. I guess this aorta thing could happen to pretty much anybody. It's what killed John Ritter. As a result of that his bowels had shut down and his legs hadn't been receiving any blood for an extended period of time. The doctors basically told me and my parents that they didn't expect him to live. Direct quote, "He's the sickest person in the hospital."
To say the idea of my little brother dying was devestating to me can't even come close to conveying how that feels. I spend tons of time with my brother, probably more than I spend with anybody else. He's not just my brother, he's probably my best friend. I just can't imagine having to go to his funeral, or never seeing him again. I can honestly say that if he were to die a huge part of me would die with him.
The other thing that killed me in that waiting room was watching my parents go through this. It was just heartbreaking.
Anyway, he had to undergo three surgeries. They repaired the aorta as good as new. They managed to get the blood flowing in his legs again. On top of that his bowels, which they said were most likely permanantly damaged and likely to be what was going to kill him, after the other procedures they took a look and there's no permanent damage.
So now, he's stable but still sedated and in the ICU for observation. We won't know what the extent of the damage to his legs and possibly to his mind are for a bit. I'm optimistic that he'll be okay. Hell, just going from, "he's probably not going to survive" to anything above that is a win to me. I'm just waiting for them to allow him to wake up. Then, hopefully, I can relax a bit.
So, if I'm absent the next few days, now you know why. (I imagine that once he's up, aside from hospital visits eating up a good chunk of my early evenings, things will be back to normal. Hopefully in the next few days.)
I just got home from spending 18 hours at the hospital, where my brother was taken by ambulance.
On Saturday morning his legs just stopped working. He was standing up one minute and then his legs just gave out on him and he fell. Luckily he called for an ambulance, and he was rushed the hospital. At first doctors thought it was a blood clot, which is serious, but pretty easy to treat if you catch it. It turned out to be a torn aorta, which can kill you. I guess this aorta thing could happen to pretty much anybody. It's what killed John Ritter. As a result of that his bowels had shut down and his legs hadn't been receiving any blood for an extended period of time. The doctors basically told me and my parents that they didn't expect him to live. Direct quote, "He's the sickest person in the hospital."
To say the idea of my little brother dying was devestating to me can't even come close to conveying how that feels. I spend tons of time with my brother, probably more than I spend with anybody else. He's not just my brother, he's probably my best friend. I just can't imagine having to go to his funeral, or never seeing him again. I can honestly say that if he were to die a huge part of me would die with him.
The other thing that killed me in that waiting room was watching my parents go through this. It was just heartbreaking.
Anyway, he had to undergo three surgeries. They repaired the aorta as good as new. They managed to get the blood flowing in his legs again. On top of that his bowels, which they said were most likely permanantly damaged and likely to be what was going to kill him, after the other procedures they took a look and there's no permanent damage.
So now, he's stable but still sedated and in the ICU for observation. We won't know what the extent of the damage to his legs and possibly to his mind are for a bit. I'm optimistic that he'll be okay. Hell, just going from, "he's probably not going to survive" to anything above that is a win to me. I'm just waiting for them to allow him to wake up. Then, hopefully, I can relax a bit.
So, if I'm absent the next few days, now you know why. (I imagine that once he's up, aside from hospital visits eating up a good chunk of my early evenings, things will be back to normal. Hopefully in the next few days.)
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6 comments:
Wow man, my thoughts are with you and your family. I really can't imagine how tough that's gotta be. I hope everything works out alright.
Best wishes to you and your family. I hope your brother has a speedy recovery.
good luck pal, that's a rough one for ya. You know i've been down that sort of road before, if you need anything, say the word.
This really is a crappy year for you and your family. I really am hoping and praying that your brother pulls through fine. My wife lost her Uncle a couple of years ago to the same thing. So your brother is very lucky, and it is good that he is surrounded by loved ones. Take care and hope all goes well.
i hope everything is ok..
but hey it's been more of a scary year for you then just bad tho, couple scares but they turned out ok.
oddly tho i had the first death in my immediate family this year to, my oldest sister died several months ago.
doh, my train of thought got derailed by a 5 year old who should be sleeping..
i think my point was try to look on the bright side.. you had a couple scares, but everything should be ok.
and yeah, in case you didn't get it, another scary thing, i have three kids (not biologically mine tho, that would be the apocolypse)
I AM AL BUNDY!!
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