The past week...

Thank you SO much for everyone's good thoughts and prayers for my brother's health last week. God is so good and he is doing great after lots of rest, antibiotics, and some TLC. I have been waiting to blog about it so that I could tell the whole story...with a happy ending! Sooo...my brother flew in from Cannes on Friday night (graduation). He had a gig at the film festival-so exciting! We all saw him on Saturday after he was back (see my previous water fight post)and he seemed fine. On Sunday morning, I drove to Calabasas to see my parents and grandparents off. It should also be noted that Aaron and his family all left on Saturday, and my Aunt, Uncle, and cousin left earlier Sunday morning before my parents/grandparents. AKA, I was all alone! Well, on Saturday, my brother mentioned that he was having a staff appreciation event at a beach house in Oxnard and he said that I could come. Since I anticipated being sad that everyone had left after graduation/I had a free week ahead, I told him I'd go. On Sunday morning, I woke up tired and felt like I needed some time to unwind so I texted him before church that I wasn't going to make it. He replied almost immediately that he had a 100 degree temperature and he asked if I could check on him later. Scary side note-my brother is epileptic and a jump in his temperature is very dangerous. For more info: http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/dj_hapa. After church, I went to the grocery store and while I was there, he called and asked if I could bring him lunch. I picked up some gatorade and crackers and headed his way. When I got to his apartment, he was having body tremors. His girlfriend, T was in the desert with her family and so I talked to her and we decided that I would just stick around to see if he felt better. She was expecting to be back about 6 or 7pm. I thought that he just really needed to sleep. He was running a crazy schedule in Cannes--not sleeping, and apparently, eating lots and lots of sushi (in FRANCE!) Also, he came back to a total heat wave (100+ degrees in Calabasas on Saturday) and he really hit the ground running upon arriving back in the US. Anyway, I put him to bed and I went out for a bit to get some lunch and buy a book to read since I didn't bring anything with me and I had no idea how long I would be there. I checked on him every 20 minutes or so and he wasn't really sleeping. I decided at that point that I definitely needed to stay at least until T got back. At about 8pm, he was in really bad shape. That's when we decided to go to the ER. Now, I didn't realize how much of a safe little hospital free bubble I have lived in for 26 years. I had no idea where to go, if I could take him, if I had to call an ambulance-NO CLUE. I tried calling his girlfriend because I thought she may know where the closest ER was but she wasn't picking up. As I started to panic, I called Aaron who had just arrived in Texas. Luckily, he was near his computer so he found an ER in Marina Del Rey. I was pretty freaked out at this point because he was dozing in and out and I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to get him into the car. Luckily, I got him in and I called the ER on our way there to see if they would take him. (My mom laughed when I told her that I did that and told me that I didn't need an invitation to go to the ER, ha!) Anywho, the ER staff was so unbelievably nice and they saw him in about 35 minutes. I was still pretty spooked and I just sat with him while they had him all plugged up to the IV and oxygen. His girlfriend showed up at 11:30 and stayed with him the night so that I could go home and shower and sleep for a bit. I probably only slept about 3 hours that night because they were running some tests to try to figure out what was wrong with him. They decided to admit him the next day because he was incredibly dehydrated (oh, and he had a 104 degree temp!!!). He had scary low blood pressure and abdominal pain so they wanted to keep him awhile. We changed rooms and we met the doctor who said that it seemed like he had some kind of inflamed intestine and infection--but they didn't know what it was just yet. The next couple of days were just a waiting game. He was getting tons and tons of fluid and antibiotics. The dr. said we may never know what the infection is because the antibiotics usually just knock it out. It was very scary to just watch him suffer so much pain. Thank you so much for everyone's prayers and good thoughts-I would have been a mess without your love and support. The turnaround point was on Wednesday when Bran got moved to a room all to himself. His original roomate was a little wacky, so he actually got a lot more rest, day and night. Finally, he was able to eat something other than clear liquids on Wednesday evening and he started to feel better. Thursday morning, he was actually really hungry so we knew it was a good sign. Late Thursday night, after 4 days of bed rest, he was released with antibiotics. His girlfriend left for Miami on Friday night so I was staying at his house until this afternoon. He's doing a lot better-we still don't know what it was but the doctor is having him come in for a colonoscopy next week to make sure that there isn't something bigger going on. The take home message for me, especially on the brink of bar studying for the next 10 weeks, is to not underestimate the importance of hydrating and sleeping. Everyone can use more of both of those! The patient, on release day, with his 2 favorite nurses:) Anywho, as proof that he is doing a lot better, he went to an event on Friday night. At first, I did not approve since he had not been out of the hospital 24 hours, but his role was pretty minimal and it was a really good opportunity for him. The designer for Ed Hardy, Christian Audigier, was celebrating his 50th birthday at the Peterson Automotive Museum in LA. I decided to go with my brother, partly to remind him that he needed to go home after his performance to REST! Anyway, he was playing with his good friend Macy Gray! She was the opener, followed by performances by Snoop Dogg and Fergie. It was quite the Hollywood event--the theme was heaven and hell and it was very very "Euro". As it turns out, Christian Audigier is tres French. He barely speaks much English, so that explained the Moulin Rouge-ness of it:) I'm just glad that I asked his manager what the attire was. Thank you, Forever 21, for the last minute outfit! The pictures pretty much sum up the grandiose event...red carpet, multiple jumbotrons, acrobats and girls on huge swings, swinging from the ceiling....now that's how you celebrate a birthday!!! Ps-there were a ton of celebrities, supposedly...Britney Spears, Pam Anderson, and Mena Suvari walked right by me!!!
The "heaven" room: One of the many dancing girls and a shot of the jumbotrons: The stage: Girl swinging-I wasn't kidding! Me and my brother's manager: Me and my brother's assistant: My brother, the DJ:)

Macy-not sure why she is sideways:


Macy and the birthday guy! A few of the many staff people with t-shirts designed especially for this event: Me and my healthy brother!

***WARNING!!! Sorry for the language...not the "clean" versions of the songs!!!***

Snoop:


Fergie:


Happy Memorial Day!

"Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so." James 3:10