O Brother

I'm beginning to think there's a conspiracy. Maybe the boards of the local hospitals got together for a lunch meeting a few months ago and in an attempt to find more profit they decided to put something in the city water tanks, forcing more of us to be admitted to the hospital than usual. Yeah, I know it's a long shot.

In any case last night Jon's little brother was rushed to the emergency room after a few hours of what seemed to be a very violent flu. Once at the hospital it was determined to be appendicitis and his appendix had to be removed quickly before it ruptured. The surgery was minor and he's doing just fine, thankfully, but I'm not sure how many more trips to the hospital my husband can stand before he finally breaks down into a big ball of stress and tears. Let's just say he is hanging on by a thread at this point. But regardless of Jon's state we made the trip down to the hospital after we knew his brother had been moved into his own room where we spent a few hours talking with his dad and his brother's girlfriend. We were sure to thank his girlfriend for getting him to the hospital so quickly before things could get any worse, and being the sweet girl that she is, she wouldn't take much credit for it.

His brother was only awake for a minute or two the entire time we were there, and when he first opened his eyes Jon exclaimed, "Hey! What's up, man?"

"Sup." His brother managed to reply in a very sleepy, groggy voice.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been hit by a bus."

Then he went right back to sleep.

Jon is a burly guy and unfortunately he doesn't have a graceful bone in his body, so when he went to give his brother a small, affectionate rub on the shoulder before leaving, it was more like a congratulatory pat on the back, usually accompanied by a very manly handshake. His brother didn't show any signs of discomfort in his sleep, but we all sort of cringed, and then smiled at the care he was trying to give his little brother even though Jon is known for not being very emotional.

As of right now the festivities for his brother's 21st birthday are still planned for Friday, and the doctors said that he could be out playing golf within a week if he wanted to which I think is just absolutely amazing. We'll see how he is feeling in a few days, but mostly I'm just so thankful to have had two very important people to me go through surgery with flying colors, all in the matter of two months. Although I wouldn't complain if I could manage a month away from the hospital... just one.