My Sweet Brother

As I briefly mentioned in yesterday's post, my older brother, Mark, was in a terrible motorcycle accident on Monday. His current status is that he is still in Critical Condition at St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson, NV. I just spoke with my adorable niece, Shannon, who informed me that there is no real change from yesterday. This is not necessarily bad news, but certainly a lesson in patience!

Mark is the oldest child in our family, I'm second. There is a 5 year age distance between us and my other brother, Paul, my sister Carol and I have always looked up to Mark and have always respected him as a VERY driven, highly intelligent, ridiculously funny man. He is a published author, an airplane mechanic as well as an airline pilot. He is a father, husband, grandfather, brother, son and uncle. He is focused and has always excelled at everything he has ever tried...I think we have all been a bit envious of this particular quality.

Mark has a personality that is bigger than life! He is very friendly and doesn't know a stranger. As a Captain for United Airlines, he is always in charge and commands a plane of over 300 people. As a former flight attendant, a Captain like Mark is a real blessing for a flight crew. He has dealt with emergencies on the plane with expertise and grace, ensuring confidence in his passengers in his highly trained and skilled abilities, always with a great ending.

But more importantly, Mark is my big brother. I love and adore him. When I see his name pop up on my phone as an incoming call, I always smile! I know that he will be positive and lift my spirits.

Now he is fighting for his very life. His actual injuries are amazingly minimal: a broken ankle, broken rib and a small puncture in one of his lungs. He arrived at the hospital in good spirits and was chatting with the doctors and flirting with the nurses...he immediately endeared himself to the ER staff and had them laughing. As they administered the medication to him so they could insert a tube into his chest and re inflate his lung, he began reacting violently to the meds. His throat was rapidly closing and they had to quickly use an infant tube to intibate him. Before we knew it, he was on Life-Support and in Critical Condition.

To make matters worse, his wife, Peggy, was in California visiting friends and was suffering from Kidney Stones! She was drugged up, waiting for them to pass and she couldn't get home! It was frustrating for her as well as her sweet children who were rallying together for their parents. She made it home on Tuesday...complete with kidney stones still intact!

My sister, Carol and her hubs, Jamie decided to drive up from Phoenix and Brad and I drove down from Utah (coincidentally, we booked rooms at the same hotel, across the hall from each other!!) Yesterday was my first day seeing Mark. It was surreal and unbelievable to watch this amazingly strong, in-charge man lying in a hospital bed restrained, paralyzed (medically) and filled with tubes. I looked around his room and was overcome with incredible gratitude for modern technology and highly skilled trauma doctors, nurses and various medical personnel who have fought so valiantly for his well-being.

His prognosis is pretty good. He had little change today, but he did not slip backwards. Yes, the doctors wanted to get him off the respirator, but it didn't happen. Again, patience! I know that he can survive this. I know that he is a fighter and I know that he can emerge stronger for having gone through this...but it will be a long road...that's O.K....he's used to long hauls!

To learn a bit more about him, check out his website http://www.markswint.com/.

So thank you to all of you who have offered up your humble prayers on his behalf. We, as his family, have felt the strength and comfort of all of them. Please continue to pray for him and his wife, Peggy. They are amazingly strong and have always been there for others...now they need all of us!