My Name is Kris and I Blah-g

January 31st… It’s been a heckuva month. It started off with Mike’s death and continued on with all the weirdness that accompanies such an event. Then this past Sunday, our beloved Prophet, President Hinkley passed away. If you count Heath Ledger, they always say these things come in 3s…His death was a grim reminder of what had just transpired in my life as there were certain parallels but not quite similarities, if you know what I mean. It happened and I was like WHOA! Tonight my big brother nearly joined them. It’s not supposed to happen in 4s! And words nearly fail me now. As it was transpiring all I could think about was keeping focused on what was vs. what wasn’t. Word was that he couldn’t be revived. Then I heard they couldn’t wake him up. Two very different things in my book. He only two days ago had knee replacement surgery and was in quite a bit of pain. Medication is certain and frankly, necessary. I spoke to Jay just yesterday to see how he was doing. Jay made it quite clear to me how proud he is of me and he praised me for my so-called sage advice and how well I was handling things. I was taken aback by his words, not because he said them but because I wasn’t really sure where they were coming from. I thanked him anyway and told him to take care of himself and that I loved him. So, today when Mom called to tell me that there was an emergency with my brother, my first thoughts were of course taken back to that horrible night 4 weeks ago. The vision of Mike lying on the couch is still quite fresh. And like Mike, Jay suffers from sleep apnea. Having just spoke with him 24 hours ago, nothing made sense as to why he would slip away unless he had done so in his sleep. I told Mom that now was the time to remain calm and drill it into the nurses and doctors that the sleep apnea is very real. This, they’ll find is the cause of what happened today. I told my Dad the same thing. This afternoon, his daughter, my niece, walked in just in time to save Jay’s life. His skin was pale. His eyes were open and he was unresponsive. Calmly she informed the nurses and later after Jay had come around, the doctors confirmed that they had “lost him today.” The cause? SLEEP APNEA aggrivated by the medication he is taking which prevented him from waking himself up! A few moments longer and he would have been gone for sure. Again, it’s easy to play the coulda, shoulda, woulda game. But this time, there is no need. The outcome is so much different and that should be the focus. If anyone understands what Katy saw today, it’s me. I hope she knows that if she needs to talk to anyone about that, I’m here. In the meantime, I have this ol’ blog….Katy, you did everything right, today. You recognized the severity of the situation and you made sure you got the help your Dad needed. You saved him and you saved all of us from yet another tragedy.February starts tomorrow. For most of us who’d rather forget how 2008 began, we’re starting anew. From here on out, I’m calling the shots and I have decided that nobody is allowed to die or to try to die for at least the rest of the year. I’ve had my fill!