Aunt Anna...

So since this explanation is too complicated to post as a facebook status update or Tweet, I decided to try to put down some of what has been going on in a blog post. My Nana's older sister, Anna, was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday and by the end of the night, she was getting help breathing from a ventilator and was non-responsive. At that point, the doctors did not know what caused her condition, but after a "battery" of tests, they found a clot in her heart, which was later dissolved with blood thinners. However, either because of the lack of oxygen to her brain due to the clot or a stroke, she has suffered severe damage to her brain stem as well as other parts of her brain so that now she has very little or no brain function. She is no longer breathing on her own, and is only staying alive due to the ventilator and fluids they are administering.

That's the medical(ish) explanation of what is going on with my Aunt Anna, but the family/emotional side of it is much more complicated and confusing. Right now her husband, Uncle Diz and daughter Lisa are faced with the most difficult decision imaginable, deciding when to take her off the machines that are keeping her alive. The neurologist did several tests for brain function, but the results showed no reactions. It's hard to imagine a world without my Aunt Anna, most of my memories of her involve her amazing ability to know everything about everyone even when she wasn't able to go outside. As the oldest of seven kids, she has always been tough and when I interviewed her for a family history paper last fall, she gave me more information than I ever could have wanted. I think the hardest part for me is knowing how hard the coming days and weeks will be for Diz and her kids and also for my Nana and mom and Aunt Izzy. In all of this, the one thing that is certain is that God is faithful and that even in the hardest of situations, He is with everyone involved and His love will surround them. My prayer is that as things progress and change in the next few days, that I will be able to help somehow and be of as much comfort and assistance to my family as possible.

I want to thank everyone for their prayers and ask that you continue to pray for my family and Anna, that she will have peace and that my family will have peace in knowing that she is not in pain and that she is with the Lord. I will try to keep everyone posted, and I hope that God will continue to show Himself to all of us and remind us of His incredible faithfulness and love.