An Unexpected and Unhappy Return to California...

While we were in Seattle/Issaquah, we received some bad news. Jack's brother had fallen and broken his neck. We were just about a thousand miles away and unsure of the severity of his injuries or the prognosis for recovery so we extended our stay a couple of days, rather than following our planned itinerary and going even farther away, until we had more information. Issaquah Village RV Park was wonderful and told us they would keep our site available for us at our current winter rate although the higher summer rates had kicked in by then.

As a retired RN, I have a good understanding of what's happening and the news went from hopeful to worrisome. At first his prognosis after surgery was reasonably good, then things took a downturn, including cardiac and respiratory issues and fevers. He was unable to breathe due to swelling in the neck area and was placed on a ventilator. We decided that going back to California so Jack could see him and so we could offer support to Jack's sister, who is local and thus shouldering the burden of dealing with the bad news and making the medical decisions, was an imperative.

We drove for three days, covering about 325 miles a day, which isn't a lot in a car but is arduous when towing 15,000 pounds through the mountains and we are now in Fresno, CA.

T is alert and oriented and the look on his face when Jack walked into the ICU made the trip worthwhile. He's undergone a second surgery and is not able to talk as he remains intubated, still on the ventilator. There are plans to do a tracheotomy later this week and to place a PEG tube for nutrition. He has gross movement of his arms but not his hands or fingers. He's unable to move his legs and is not likely to walk again. He's been placed on meds for tachycardia and atrial fibrillation and multiple antibiotics for his pneumonia.

He has an extremely difficult road ahead and my heart breaks for my sweet brother-in-law.

Our current plan is to be here a week but we'll see what happens...

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Trip details:

We stopped at Meadowlark RV Park in Creswell, OR the first night. We had a long pull-thru and didn't have to unhook. It was pricier than I like, probably because it is just outside Eugene, but it's right off the highway and fine for an overnight. Our second stop was at Redding RV Park in Redding, CA, also right off the highway and fine for an overnight, though too expensive for my taste. We are now back at Blackstone North RV Park in Fresno (see comments in an April post).

The reason for this trip is sad but we did travel through some pretty country...