Bad News

As some of you already know, over the last several days my older brother, Jake, has fallen very seriously ill. After contracting the flu late last weekend his condition quickly worsened and he was checked into the hospital on Sunday night with a case of pneumonia. As the doctors would soon find, his pneumonia was quite severe. His lungs were completely filled with fluid and within a very short time his respiratory system failed. By Monday Jake was no longer able to breathe on his own and things were looking very grim. The doctors' next step was to hook Jake up to a breathing machine. First, however, he had to be heavily sedated with doses of a parylitic, which means they had to paralyze his body in order that his still functioning nervous system wouldn't resist the breathing apparatus. Since that time, Jake has essentially remained unconscious. When the first doses of paralytic wore off on Tuesday night, he briefly showed signs of awareness as my sister and other brother sat by his bedside. Unfortunately, even that feeble interaction had the effect of further agitating his condition and the doctors had to immediately re-paralyze him. From my current understanding, Jake has since remained unresponsive.

That's the bad news. Since Tuesday Jake's condition has remained relatively stable. There have been a few scary moments, but for the most part things seem to be improving, or at least not getting worse. His breathing capacity continues to inch toward normalcy and his other vital signs are also keeping relatively steady. But for every 2 steps forward there seems to be 1 step back. As the doctors' said, he is clearing but by no means out of the woods yet. Unfortunately the doctors have not been able to pinpoint exactly why so many complications have arisen over the last few days. Along with his breathing, his sustained fever and minor twitching are the most salient issues for concern right now. A few tests were taken yesterday, including a spinal tap to check for meningitis, and they all came back negative. The doctors will continue to administer more tests over the next few days until they identify the specific nature of the illness.

Basically, we are all playing a waiting game at this point. Our mindset right now is on the short-term. We anxiously watch each passing hour and expect a breakthrough to occur at any minute. But in reality, as the doctors' have tried to tell us, it is much more pragmatic to take the long-view. Jake's condition is critical and highly volatile but the outcome of his situation, good or bad, will unfold over the course of the next several days or even weeks. Not knowing exactly what his ailment is makes this even truer. The doctors cannot begin to take proactive measures until they know what they're up against. As difficult as it may be, we must all be patient to let the process go at its intended speed. I'll be sure and keep you updated as time passes.

As for me, I am waiting around in the Bangkok airport to board a flight for St. Louis. I'm doing my best not drive myself crazy with worry. I should be arriving in the 27th city sometime Thursday evening or perhaps Friday morning. Obviously my globetrotting will currently be put on hold. Incidentally, in my last post I paid notice to certain things that are taken for granted during the course of our everyday lives. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a devastating incident like this to put those things back into perspective. But it shouldn't have to. Obviously, your thoughts and prayers would be much appreciated. But do me one more favor if you can: if you have any brothers or sisters, or your parents, or any loved ones for that matter, give them a call real quick just to say hello. I know it's kind of corny (actually very corny), but it would mean a lot to me, and will mean the world to them.