Pete

My brother-in-law died today. He was 34, and he leaves behind a wife and four kids between the ages of 17 and 6.

It wasn't expected. He had a sudden, massive infection in January. They replaced the mechanical heart valve he'd had for years; he suffered several strokes. The prognosis changed hour by hour: he might not live, if he lived he'd be in a nursing home, he'd be able to come home but need round-the-clock care. . . . he went through intensive rehab, made incredible progress, and came home March 30. He was great, he was fine; I made him cream-cheese frosted brownies last week - the one thing I knew he liked - and he told me he couldn't wait to get going with more therapy, he was raring to go.

Yesterday he had a routine exam, they did an echo this morning and discovered the replacement valve wasn't working. He made it to the hospital, but not the OR. They don't know what happened, but it was fast.

I can't believe he's gone. He was THREE YEARS older than John. My sister-in-law is five years older than I am - and she's a widow.

And now I need to figure out how to explain death to little kids, after all.

Comments

Kay said…
I'm so sorry, Kristen, I know you are very close to his family. Please let me know if you need help with anything or need me to watch the kids at all.
6:46 AM
Kimberly said…
I'm SO sorry, for you and especially for Stephanie and her kids.
9:02 AM
Zimm said…
Holy cow. Condolences to you and John. I hope you guys are doing as best you can.
10:10 AM
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