Second year Day 96 - Tuesday March 19, 2013

It was a very long day.  Bridgett woke up in pain and I gave her percocet and the robaxin.  Even though she didn't get dizzy yesterday, today she was suddenly VERY dizzy and couldn't really even walk without someone holding onto her on each side.  She reached out and gripped the counter and me and I yelled for Tyler to come quick.  We got her into bed, where she was still dizzy but less than standing.  It took some convincing to keep her laying down, because she wanted to get up and walk for the pain, which she was still having.  Finally Tyler stayed in by her and watched the cartoon movie of Robin Hood and visited with her, and she stayed down.  Note to self.....no more percocet!  I was on the phone most of the day, off and on, with my family, discussing the updates on Chris, etc.  Mark went to the hospital around noon and stayed for a while and then he was back at about 5:30 and stayed.  Justin left Salt Lake with mom about 2:30, after getting his business stuff under control.  Everyone else was unable to leave yet, so they were the only ones that came.  I took Bridgett out walking around 5:00.  Luckily, even though she was SO dizzy while the percocet was working, when it wore off she was fine.  She was still having pain, but just taking Advil.  Remember that when she took one Lortab, she was dizzy for 24 hours, so that was worse!  When Mark got up to the hospital around 5:30, he was able to talk to the doctor with Julie and get the bad news.  Chris had no brain function and they said he would not make it, no matter what.  Julie was then faced with the decision of when to unhook him from life support.  His body was twitching I guess and the doctor recommended not waiting for anyone to get there from out of town, but doing what was best for Julie and the kids.  Right in the middle of all of this, while I was talking to my brother Frank, Bridgett accidentally dropped a plate and it shattered on the floor, trapping Stephany and her in shards of glass.  Neither of them was wearing shoes.  I told Frank I'd call him back and yelled for Tyler.  He helped me get shoes to them and get them away from the glass, and then he cleaned it up.  In the meantime, I had another call from another one of my brothers.  Since we have a big family, there are lots of calls to pass on information.  I have six brothers and a sister and then of course my adult children that needed information as well.  Anyway, Julie tried to make it and hold off as long as she could, but by 10:15 she just couldn't stand it any longer and they went ahead.  Chris was gone in less than 10 minutes.  We all realize that it was best for them to go ahead and would have done the same ourselves if we'd been in her position.  Of course, the entire is very hard for all of us, even though many of us weren't there with them--we just love Chris and Julie and the kids and know the pain they were going through.  By this time, Justin and mom had made it to Missoula.  Mom of course took the news very hard, and they ultimately decided to stop and stay in Missoula for the night.  It was very late when Mark finally got home and then even later by the time we all finally got to bed (with the exception of Bridgett, who went to bed by 9:00).  Now there are some very difficult decisions for Julie to make and of course, our hearts go out to her and the kids.  One of my brothers mentioned that this is the third person in our family to be in a coma in the past15 months.  First it was Bridgett, then my dad just 10 days later, and then now Chris.  Of course, neither Chris or dad made it.  We are all praying for things to settle down now.  My poor mother, we know it's so very hard.  Life can be very difficult at times, and we have to rely on the Savior to get us through.  The balm of Gilead, that is what we all need; healing from the balm of Gilead, our Savior.