Rigon wrote:Praying for your family, Les.
R-
Thanks, it is a rough one, and not over yet. However, My mom, my brother and I got to say our real good by to him.
We are now just waiting for the official passing, but he won't feel a thing till them ... LOTS of high end big bore pain meds are keeping him in a fog.
It's funny, but the thing that helped me (and my brother) the most is helping the ICU nurses ... My brother is a surg tec, and with my EMT training plus all the mil training, so we aren't normal family members ... I told the nurses " see I told you the two of us Rouell brothers are aby-normal, in oh so many ways" the nurses laughed at that one !!!
When the official decision was made and the doc hacked off on it. They cut the pain meds enough so he was at a point to fill the pain and react. That way he could start breathing when the pulled the vet tube from his lungs. The nurses were then doing everything as things started going fast when he came out of the fog. Everyone else left , My brother & I slid in and were the extra hands, eventually doing all the talking to him to explain to him what was happening and to keep him calm ... My brother, as a surg teck, knew what all the drugs were for and would explain it to him, then I'd finish his sentence and start talking him through the calm, controlled breaths, ... I was in straight sgt mode ...
It's odd, not talking to my brother for years - we both just aren't phone talking people - but sliding in and knowing what each other were doing where to move to help each other (and the nurses) and knowing what to do from just a glance at each other ... Almost like being back with my dad and the 2 of us helping in his metal shop or working on a car with dad ...
After it was over, and they had him back in a DEEP fog, the nurses said "yeah, abby normal, and that is the best way possible to say thanks to you 2 Rouell boys" Then they gave us a good big hug and teard up a bit - the hug was good, both of them were cute - They had spent the last days in with our family off and on hearing all the family stories, jokes and even ate with us a couple of times ... So I think he was more than a normal patient and we weren't just an average family to them .
The bad part is after 10 min, I was tasting dust - In SGT mode, and with the medic stress I guess part of my mind was back on a deployment - I still taste dust 10 hours later. But being able to help at the worst part and get into sgt mode helped me say good by to him and purge the emotions ... Plus, it helped my mom coming in as the dust settle and see us there flowing with the nurses and helping him before he went so deep into a fog that he wouldn't even hear anyone talk.
Sorry about venting here ... I guess all the emotions aren't completely purged ... 'talking' about it helps ...
Good luck with the Game tomorrow ... either he will have passed and we will be dealing with that, or my mom, brother , and I will be going out to have a good mom sons evening and move through the weekend.
Again sorry about venting, and thanks for the thoughts, well wishes, and prayers.