Hey, Kendall:

I was so concerned when I saw this thread this morning. My wife and I are part of a prayer chain at church, and it seems like every day we have new people to pray for. We have some tragedies down this way, too. As others have said, there's no easy way through all of this. When you lose communication, it makes it that much harder. But, not all words are spoken with our voice, or heard through our ears. There is a connection that transcends physical communication.
The last few weeks of my Mother's life, she was too weak to dial the phone and ultimately, too weak to even be able to carry on a conversation. We still called and left messages on her answering machine that the nurses would play for her, and they meant a lot to her. We've visited many people over the years who can't speak, or show any signs of communication, but when you held their hand, they'd squeeze it firmly as an affirmation of something you said.
Your brother knows that you are praying for him and that is a comfort.

We'll keep the prayers flowing from down here..

Jerry and Ruth