Saturday, February 03, 2007

A Hollow Feeling in the Pit of My Stomach

My 17-year-old nephew is in an ICU in Phoenix.

I know very little, really.

He was goofing off with some friends. Was riding on the hood of a car. The driver braked suddenly and hard and he was thrown to the ground.

There is a crack in his skull. There may be some bleeding. Unclear whether he is conscious or not. He is breathing on his own last I heard.

And there is nothing I can do.

4 comments:

Kanga Jen said...

oh. No.
I am so sorry - so scary!! That helpless feeling when someone you love is across the country suffering totally SUCKS. Is this your sister's son? Brother's?

I'm hoping hard for you (them) that he ends up fine. My neighbor suffered a very bad head injury in a bike accident - was in a coma for weeks and in the hospital for 3 months. She's completely recovered now (1.5 years later). The brain is a mysterious organ. I do so hope he's OK.

((hugs))

J said...

This is my sister's son.

The last I heard, about an hour ago, he was out of surgery to remove the clot from under his skull. The neurosurgeon said it went well, but that there was more swelling than he expected so he installed a drain.

My sister was to be able to see him in recover about 40 minutes ago.

He also has a fractured ankle and some strain/sprains and bad bruisng to his back.

Bringing up many emotions for me, as you might expect.

Kanga Jen said...

Yes. I can imagine you are doing quite the emotional roller coaster ride just now. I don't know what to say to help. This SUCKS. Hang on.

I'm glad the initial surgery went well. And a drain is good. I'm glad he's got a release valve for the pressure now.

Keep us posted...

Kanga Jen said...

Any word on your nephew today?

Jen