My older brother (Mid 50's) was flown to a hospital downstate (Michigan) on Monday. He was in a coma and unresponsive following an early morning trip to the emergency room with a severe headache.
The doctors told my sister-in-law that there is a baseball sized area of bleeding putting pressure on his brain. The damage has been significant.
They did another CAT Scan today which (according to the phone call I just received) shows that the damaged area is expanding. Apparently if he does wake up his right side will be paralyzed, he will have lost his verbal function and most of his cognitive reasoning. But his waking up is not likely. They meet with the neurosurgeon tomorrow morning.
He is 53 years old. He married his high school sweetheart and she is by his side as he struggles. They have three daughters and a son. Two of the girls were international adoptions from Korea.
He teaches science at a Catholic middle school and has a reputation as a fun teacher but a hard grader. He loved the Bill Nye the Science Guy show. Every once in a while, in the course of my job I meet families who have had kids who had him for a teacher. invariably, when they find out who my brother is their faces brighten up and they can't say enough nice things. Heck, even the staff at the local AM radio station (I test their fire alarms) have nothing but nice things to say about him. They know him because he is a frequent winner of trivia and word quiz contests.
His dream was to some day appear on Jeopardy and he used to watch the show with an oversize retractable pen in his hand and practice. Two weeks ago he attended the tryouts in Chicago. He wore a specially ordered shirt that matched one he wears in class but without the logo. He was careful to avoid any foods that might make his throat 'scratchy' and agonized over the decision on whether to keep his beard or shave it (he kept it). His biggest concern was that his neck looks lopsided ever since his cancer surgery over a decade ago.
He carefully planned everything so if he didn't make it he wouldn't look back and 'what if' himself to death. He would know that he gave it his best shot and no excuses. He was relaxed and even got a few laughs.
When it was over he had done well enough to be placed in the pool for this season and next.
It just isn't fair.
I'm sad and I am angry.