Lost my SIL today. [View all]

[woodsprite]

Just wanted to share that we lost my SIL sometime over night. She said she wasn't feeling good and went to bed earlier than normal. My brother has been in the hospital for a week with a leg infection (strep). My SIL usually called to check on him by 10am and then would come in to visit in the evenings. At about 12:30pm, he hadn't heard from her so he called home and asked her daughter to check on her. She found her in bed with her cpap on. They have to have an autopsy performed, but they said that indications point to a stroke or aneurisym. This is my SIL who had attempted suicide last year. The first thing done when the EMTs and County police arrived was to count her meds, which totalled appropriately.

My brother is devastated, as well as the family. He said he couldn't sleep last night. Was awake until 4:30, couldn't sleep, didn't ask for anything from the nursing station, couldn't pace due to his leg, anxious (which is something he usually isn't). He said he wished he felt more in touch with spirituality, thinking that maybe her spirit was trying to connect. He *may* be out of the hospital tomorrow. I'm not comfortable with the idea that they said they would speed up the IV antibiotic drip to get him home on oral meds by tomorrow evening. They're running 3 different antibiotics concurrently now.

The medical examiners' office wouldn't even come take her body after being pronounced until the family decided which funeral home was going to receive the remains after the autopsy. They said that was a rule the state set forth.

I know I'm going to have to help him through this and through the logistics of it all. He's my older brother (by 7 yrs - he's 62, she was 60). He always relied on her to do the paperwork, insurance stuff, etc. Between he and I, I'm usually the stronger one and the one who will find out how to do things. One thing I have to find out is what happens to bank accounts if they were not jointly held, and a list of other things (wrote them down). Honestly though, today when he called me, told me what happened, and asked me to come into the hospital to be with him, I couldn't think. I couldn't even think of who else in our family I should call.