I am so unbelievably angry at my brother and worried at the same time..

The only thing they had time to do at the local hospital is to put him under to get a breathing tube in, put a central line in so they could give him fluids medicines, and draw blood, they took xrays, and did a CT scan, and warmed the hell out of him. SHe said that his body temperature was severely low...then they packed him up and sent him down.. I don't think they had time to check for menengitis or anything like that..whatever tests they did on him they probably didn't have the results to yet...

Oh Kelly! How horrible! But Chelle said exactly what I was thinking. Maybe when this is all over and he is well, maybe he will take a hard look at the fact that his own family didn't recognize that he was so sick because they have seen him make himself so sick with his drinking. And if he can face that truth, it may be a turning point for him.

Please don't feel guilty for not knowing that he wasn't simply drunk. What you and your parents did was exactly the right thing to do for an alcoholic, and you had no way of knowing that his condition wasn't the result of a drinking binge. I can honestly say I would have done the exact same thing.

I am too uptight to sleep and didnt' sleep a wink last night (which was weird because I never usually have a problem sleeping, but for some reason I couldn't even doze for 5 min.) I ended up getting up and doing housework.. I may try to go soak in the tub for a while and try to calm down a bit...I will post when I get a chance

Relax if you can. It won't do your brother any good for you to get sick. My prayers are with you and your family.

Kelly definately try to take care of yourself during this just in case you are needed for whatever is going on with him.. It sounds like you are close and will want to be there. I will be praying for you. Although you know he has a drinking problem it sounds like you think this might be something else going on..

If it is, you will want to be there.. if it isn't, you will still need to be strong for yourself and your immediate family.. it's a tough place to be in either way and I will be praying for you to have whatever you need to get through it.

Kelly hang in there, it does sound like there is more going on.

Hang in there Kelly, whether something else is going on or not, this may very well be the rock bottom he needed to hit before he could start climbing back up again. I'll be thinking of you. Worrying changes nothing, yet it's impossible to stop.

Kelly, I'm so sorry to hear about your brother.. I'll keep him in my prayers.

Tara ~~ hang in there girl! I'd be upset too! Keep us posted.

He arrived at EMMC yesterday evening. They are running a million and one tests. This is not alchohol related. The Dr at this point is just guessing because they havent' recieived any definitive answers from the testing they have done so far. They did do an EEG to check his brain function because he is not responding other than a body movement or two and he doesn't do those on command, they are just random. The Dr's guess is that my brother had not been taking his Cortisol medication that he is supposed to be on for life since he has Cushing's Disease. Mom called the drug store and they couldn't give her specific info but did tell her that my brother has not filled a prescription with them since 2007. He thinks that maybe his cortisol level just bottomed out after all this time and it just happens that it got to a dangerously low level. All they got from the EEG is that the resuilts weren't indiciitive of a stroke or shock, but still cannot determine his level of brain function. His kidney function is much better now that he has been given fluids and whatnot. Right now until they get any testing results that lead them somewhere, they are doing any tests at all that they can think of in the meantime and just trying to make sure his temp, blood pressure, etc stay within normal limits. They are going to give him another EEG tommorrow to see if anything changes, or anything might show up. They said that if it is due to not taking his cortisol that some of those issues will start to reverse over time because they are notw giving him cortisol, some damage however may be permanent.

Hoping for the best.

Hoping for the best also, hang in there.

Well I haven't heard anything new since I last posted, and I don't imagine I will hear anymore tonight...

Probably not, as late as it is. Sleep if you can. Hopefully the fact that he's been improving means that he'll continue to improve.

Thats awful!

I hope they can get him medicated enough to combat any negative effects of not taking his meds!

And I am sorry for my ignorance, but what is cushing's? I am not sure I have ever heard of it.

He opened his eyes twice earlier today, and he squeezed the nurses hand twice when she asked him to, other than that no other news, but just that made me feel so much better. I will be happy with that for now, and hope for better

I was just going to post and ask if you had any news.

Every little bit helps, and hopefully he will continue to improve. I'm glad he has made some progress.

It's a good sign, I'm hoping with you, we are here if you need us.

The last time I talked to dad, he said that the nurse was asking Vic a question or two and he was nodding his head, he was also trying to use his hands to move himself up in the bed a bit. He couldn't obviously because he is too weak and hooked up to the resperator (sp) still, and all kinds of tubes and stuff but those are little positive signs. The Dr said that they were going to test the pH in his blood and if the levels were ok, then they might try taking the breathing tube out. After a day or two of the breathing tube being out, we will have an idea if he talks, what capacity he is at mentally. I am extremely happy with that for now, the Dr said he isn't completely out of the woods yet because none of the tests they have taken show anything conclusive and the thing about his cortisol level was just a guess by the Dr who has nothing yet to back that theory up...so they are still testing different stuff but it is a much better, happier outlook tonight. Thanks everyone for all your kind words and well wishes, it really DOES mean a lot!

Its starting to sound alot better. I will still be praying for you and him

Wow. That is good news for sure. Hopefully he will not be permanently impaired. I'm gonna keep praying too.

I'm glad to hear that he is improving some. He will continue to be in my prayers.

That is good news Kelly, I hope it continues to get better.

Hope he's still improving today!

That is great news!