My absence explained...

Two weeks ago today, my father-in-law("FIL") had one of those freak accidents you hear of from time to time. He was standing on a flat carport, cutting limbs from a tree. A particularly large limb he was cutting must have been under a lot of tension. When he cut that limb, it snapped and hit him in the face. A neighbor who was outside heard the crack and turned to see my FIL holding his hands to his face. Blood was everywhere. Then, probably because he was disoriented, my FIL fell headlong from the carport onto the concrete below. The neighbor, who is an EMT and his wife, a nurse, ran over to help my FIL.

He was taken to a local hospital but quickly transported to a larger, better-equipped facility. He had multiple skull fractures, including his eye sockets; according to a CT scan, he did have some brain damage, although they said it was only to the prefrontal cortex (meaning that he wouldn't lose any motor skills, but may lose the ability to schedule and coordinate things and may not be able to experience joy); and he had broken a few ribs completely through.

We drove the 12+ hours out to Louisiana that Thursday. We were here until the following Tuesday morning. Richard and I (along with his mom, his brothers, and their wives) saw my FIL in ICU at the hospital. At first, he was intubated and unresponsive, but soon he became very responsive (kicking, pulling out the ventilator tube), he also talked to us some, albeit just a couple of words at a time. Once we left on Tuesday, we heard that my FIL was becoming disoriented, not recognizing people, etc.

My family and I went on, as planned, to Florida for Thanksgiving and then returned home on Sunday. On Monday, my FIL had to be reintubated because his oxygen levels had dropped some. On Tuesday night, my MIL called and said that he had a seizure and the doctors believed he may have had a stroke. Then yesterday, Richard called me and told me that the doctors believe my FIL was brain dead.

We drove all night out to Louisiana again where we are now. Last night, the doctors ran a test and found he did have some brain activity, but it's very minimal. He'll never be able to breathe on his own - or function in any sort of way. Knowing what my FIL would have wanted, they will probably let him go within the next couple of days.

It's so sad...so surreal. He was fine two weeks ago and now, for all intents and purposes, he's gone.

Please pray for our family...