in the name of Jesus!

I have hesitated to post anything since Halloween.  I had mentioned that a family member was in the hospital at that time.  It’s my youngest brother and the prognosis is not good.  Apparently he is in late stage Liver failure and it’s more than likely due to his lifestyle when he was younger.  I know he does drink regularly but many people do and don’t have this happen to them.

He has been a heavy drinker most of his adult life especially when he was in the lead singer in a Heavy Metal Band many years ago with a lifestyle that went with it.  They played in many of the rock and roll clubs in Detroit and the suburbs.

I was originally told that my brother was injured when he lifted something heavy and tore his esophagus.  This happened due to the thinning and weakening of the membranes making bleeding a huge danger.  He must have already been quite ill for some time but never said anything, as many of us don’t until it’s too late.  I have heard of cirrhosis of the liver before but never knew that it actually can make your body sort of deteriorate where you have bleeding all through your body, sometimes severe enough to cause death.  I have been reading up on this condition to find out as much as I can.

He had emergency surgery on November 1st for esophageal bleeding, was in the hospital approximately one week recuperating and having more tests, was released and collapsed a few days later at home in a much worse condition with more widespread bleeding.  He was in a coma for approximately 11 or 12 days and started waking up a few days ago.  He has been in ICU because it does not look good, he could pass at any time.  He was just taken off the ventilator a few days ago when I was there on Thanksgiving and it broke my heart to see my brother with tubes all over his body knowing any time might be the last time and having him plead with me to bring him back home.

He has no energy and kept saying “help me” and “take me home with you” in the tiniest whisper changing from lucid one minute to not making any sense the next.  The nurse told me this was common due to high blood ammonia from the liver.  When I had to leave due to the 2 hour drive back home before dark, he kept saying “don’t go.”  Until a pretty nurse came into the room, then I could leave.

One of my daughter-in-laws was able to feed him a tiny amount of thickened liquid yesterday as well.  He has a feeding tube and is not supposed to have much by mouth right now, anything can cause this bleeding again but since they can’t just have him stay this way in ICU, they are trying to see if he can tolerate stuff so they can eventually get him out of there and he can actually come back home.

One of the nurses said if he can get through this crisis and follow Doctors orders there might be a possibility to get on a transplant list if he gets stronger.  If I qualify I would not hesitate to donate part of my liver.  My liver tests looked good a couple months ago.  I have hardly ever drank, smoked or took drugs my entire life so I am hoping that it’s a possibility though age is also a qualifying factor.  I forget the older you get the less valuable your life becomes in our society.