At the time, I was out of town on that business trip. I felt really helpless. No one thought E was going to live. How could he live? I couldn't even begin to imagine the extent of the physical damage. However, much to everyone's surprise, his condition seemed to stabilize.

M and I went to see him on Monday night. The doctors still hadn't been able to determine the extent of E's internal damage because they couldn't get a tube down his throat; there was too much tissue damage. He had had a tracheotomy a couple days prior and, of course, could not talk. However, he was alert and responsive (with nods or hand gestures); we had hope that he might get better. It was a miracle!

This morning, M called me at work with some bad news: E has to get open-chest surgery immediately because his lung cavity was starting to fill with fluid. The caveat is that he might not live through surgery.

I had an important meeting in San Jose this afteroon that I couldn't miss, but I called M as soon as I got back. He was at the hospital and had even worse news: the surgeons couldn't perform the surgery because E's condition is too unstable. His esophogus is almost completely gone and the surgeons can't remove the fluid in his lungs if they can't fix the problem (namely, the deteriorated esophagus) because they have nothing to attach to, no tissue to reconstruct his esophagus with.

Having to actually have the surgery was bad enough... but the fact that they can't even perform the surgery is tragic.

No one is sure what is going to happen. M has taken most of the day off to spend time with his mom.

I'm so, so sad for E and for the family.