My brother is in ICU

[Jilly_in_VA]

No, it's not Covid. He has some weird kind of encephalitis and the doctors can't figure out what is going on with him. He was admitted 2 days ago after a "subacute syndrome" of progressive short term memory loss, abnormally increased appetite, and some other weird symptoms including what his S/O referred to as "spells". He was found to have nonconvulsive seizure activity that got worse overnight and didn't respond to anticonvulsants. He was transferred to ICU and intubated to protect his airway because of the medication he required. Spinal tap didn't reveal an acute cause and a whole body CT didn't show any tumors. Doctors are stumped at this point. My other brother, an MD, is on his way. We are not confident of the possible outcome. This brother is the middle of the three of us.

Good thoughts, prayers to whatever gods you may worship, etc. would be appreciated.

[alwaysinasnit]

1. ...

[bluestarone]

2. praying for good news

Hope he gets better.

[hlthe2b]

3. Is he from VA as well? He has my very best wishes and you are all in my thoughts.

[Jilly_in_VA]

5. He's in California

and is at Stanford hospital.

[LisaM]

6. I'm glad he's at a good hospital.

I hope your MD brother can help, too.

[hlthe2b]

9. Yes. Ditto on Stanford. He should be in good hands.

[CountAllVotes]

16. If Stanford can't fix him

No one can.

You've got him at the BEST hospital in the state of California.

I know, I used to work for UCSF!

I hope he recovers fully soon!

[sheshe2]

4. Oh, Jilly.

Sending healing vibes.

Love to you and yours.

[niyad]

7. (((((((((((((Jilly))))))))))))) sending vibes for healing and strength and endurance for

all of you. May the doctors discover the answers quickly.

Your DU family is here for you.

[SheltieLover]

8. Healing vibes on the way! 💗💗💗

[Heartstrings]

10. Healing vibes sent......nt

[Yonnie3]

11. Oh Damn

I hope a diagnoses is coming so that he may be successfully be treated.

[BittyJenkins]

12. My mom had the same symptoms

I took her to the Er. The doctor told me she was old and senile and asked I needed therapy.
I begged him to do a cat scan and he did. It turned out she had a colloid cyst in her ventricles.
They removed the cyst and put tubes in to help drain spinal fluid,
They said she would have died in a day if they hadn’t done surgery.
I hope your brother can help.
Nothing but good thoughts for all of you.

[Jilly_in_VA]

13. Having a dr. in the family

is a definite help. I'm a nurse but neuro is definitely not my thing: I'm a cardiology kind of girl. There's a saying in medicine, "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras." This seems to be a zebra kind of deal, but this brother is a zebra himself....he has situs inversus, meaning his insides are reversed....so I'm not surprised. As my daughter said, "When your insides are in a parallel universe..."

[I_UndergroundPanther]

29. My heart

Tilts way to the left side of my chest.

Guess Im a born to be a liberal.😄

All kidding aside my heart is situated to the left.pretty far to the left too.

[Ruby the Liberal]

14. I am so sorry to hear this

Best wishes for a quick prognosis.

[MaryMagdaline]

15. Speedy recovery for your brother

ICU is no fun.

[irisblue]

17. Wishing the best for him, his SO & your whole family

[KatK]

19. Visualizing rapid and complete recovery for your beloved brother n/t

[Greybnk48]

20. Did they check for tick borne illness or weird parasites?

Don't rule anything out.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

44. +1

Worth consideration.

[uberblonde]

49. My first thought.

Sounds a lot like Lyme and other coinfections.

[Hekate]

21. All the best, and good thoughts, Jilly

[momta]

22. Keeping you and your family in my thoughts.

Please let us know how it's going. Take care.

[malaise]

23. Hope he gets well soon

Does he work with horses?

[sinkingfeeling]

24. Good thoughts to you.

[LoisB]

25. Healing thoughts for your brother. May The Universe guide the doctors in finding the problem and

fixing it.

[Percy]

26. What you describe sunds very similar to what someone I know experienced ...

which was Lyme encephalitis from longstanding undiagnosed Lyme disease.

Hope you find the answers soon.

[bluecollar2]

27. Best vibes your way...n/t

[gademocrat7]

28. Sending prayers for your brother.

And for you and your family. Take care.💙

[greatauntoftriplets]

30. Sending good vibes your way.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

31. May your brother get diagnosed

And be on the the mend quickly.

Vibes coming your way.

[thinkingagain]

32. Prayers for you and family and for the drs

To be guide in the direction of healing.
Family is important at times like this regardless if in the same room or over the phone so it’s good it sounds like you are.

[oldtime dfl_er]

33. Best wishes

and huge hopes for a full recovery. Middle kids rock.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

34. I will hope for the best for your brother.

My own 78 year old older brother has been in an ongoing health crisis for nearly two months now. In and out of hospitals. A week ago today he was supposed to have surgery, but it was cancelled when he came down with a (to quote my sister-in-law) "raging infection". He's back home now, getting intravenous antibiotics.

In his case his mental state is normal, and he's in very good spirits. Still, he's not young, and the rest of us in the family are very concerned. Scans have shown two masses on one kidney, and a different kind of mass on the nearby adrenal gland. The doctors aren't very sure what's going on, but they've told him they are very concerned it might be cancer.

I think one lesson to be learned if only from your brother and mine, that there's a lot that's still unknown out there.

I'm one of six kids, all senior citizens now. My older sister died in 2017, and a younger brother last December. It's weird, because there were so many of us and for so long.

[Hamlette]

35. good luck to all of you

let us know what happens. I'm curious about what it is.

[marble falls]

36. Thinking about you all.

[appalachiablue]

37. Best wishes for all and excellent care & steady

recovery for your brother. Pls. let us know how it goes. (((hugs)))

[femmedem]

38. Hoping for the very best outcome, Jilly.

As others have pointed out, he's in a great hospital and your brother will be a great advocate for him.

I hope you are able to get some rest tonight and that things look better in the morning.

[MLAA]

39. Sending you the best thoughts I can muster ❤️

[LetMyPeopleVote]

40. Your brother will be in my prayers

[MustLoveBeagles]

41. Sending healing vibes

I hope they figure out what's going on and that he gets better soon.

[KT2000]

42. Sending good wishes

and lots of hope to you and your brother.

[calimary]

43. You bet, Jilly_in_VA!

Sending lots of healing thoughts.

[Mad_Dem_X]

45. Wishing him the best. Sending good vibes.

[PoliticAverse]

46. Best wishes to him! n/t

[KY_EnviroGuy]

47. Big DU virtual hugs and love out to you and your bro, Jilly.

Hoping for a positive outcome and speedy recovery.

Please keep us posted on his progress when you can.

KY....... .......

[LeftInTX]

48. Oh no! Hugs and prayers for your brother...

[electric_blue68]

50. My he make it through in good condition. )))healing vibes(((