My oldest brother isn't expected to make it much longer

Benevolent One

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My oldest brother, Jimmy, is in really bad shape in the SICU at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville. He had stage 4 cancer of the esophagus by the time they found it. They did a 10 and a half hour surgery a few weeks ago to remove his esophagus and attach his stomach to what was left of his throat. The other day they said his stomach was failing so they were going to put it back in his abdomen, but when they tried they said he was even worse than they thought. His wife said his kidneys are failing and that his heart has all kinds of issues and he will never eat again. She said she doesn't expect him to make it through this a couple of hours ago, but that he has surprised them before. He's a tough dude, a Marine in Vietnam, a tire builder his whole life and a good man. But, I just don't see him fighting on if he ever finds out how bad he really is, if he hasn't already figured it out himself. He may already be gone, but I haven't gotten a call yet. There are 9 of us siblings and he is about 1000 miles away, you never know when we will find anything out. Mostly it's been on Facebook. I just checked a minute ago and no word. Please keep the family in your thoughts. Thanks.
 
sorry to hear, your brother, you, your whole family will be added to prayer list.
 
My thoughts to your brother, you and your families. Cancer is the most insidious disease ever. I lost my Mom to cancer and now my cousin's wife is fighting the battle.
 
Very sorry you are in my thoughts
 
BenOne -- you know my thoughts and prayers are with you and the whole family. May your brother's passing be peaceful and without pain.
I know how it is to wait.
 
Keeping you and your family in my prayers Benevolent One.
 
BenOne -- you know my thoughts and prayers are with you and the whole family. May your brother's passing be peaceful and without pain.
I know how it is to wait.
Thanks TRL. That's pretty much where my thoughts and prayers have been. I've seen this routine before with several people and that's pretty much all we can hope for at this point.
 
Thanks to everyone who has responded to this thread. Your support is greatly appreciated. He's still with us as of this point.
 
**** cancer. I'm sorry. Thoughts and prayers.
 
His new doctor said he actually made some very slight improvements today. One of my sisters and one of my sister-in-laws went down together today and said he looked better than they expected him to. They did some dialysis today and we'll see how he responds to that.
 
It's a tough thing to go through, I went through it with my brother (same deal with stage 4 cancer). You still have memories of the good times with him.
 
Benevolent One said:
It's not looking good again

Hope all starts to go well again. Know what it's like with my sister having stage 4 brain cancer. Hope all goes well
 
The doctors told his wife last night that they have done all that they can and that they are trying to find a hospice center closer to their house that will take him. They live like 3 hours from the hospital that he is in. They are having a hard time getting a hospice that will take him because he has a trach.
 
I am very sorry to hear this. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
 
Thanks everybody. It kind of hit me pretty hard this morning. Harder than it has to this point, anyway.
 
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