This last week I've really struggled trying to put together a blog post about Parker's accident. There are just so many details that I want recorded but I am having a hard time re-hashing it all I guess you could say. To say the least it was extremely emotionally traumatizing for our little fam. I feel like that week of my life was just such a bad dream & at this point I am more than ready to move on from it all. I have guilt in saying that however because I don't mean at all to minimize what happened or how incredibly blessed we were along the way! The gratitude we feel for the countless blessings we experienced through such a horrible incident are priceless. The important lessons and faith building experiences certainly won't be forgotten! I did finally finish a draft post earlier this week but I am for some reason reluctant to share it. It's just a bit much and like I said, I'm ready to move forward. I've got to get some of this journaled though so I am going to go ahead and share a bit of it...(trust me, it is still a way too long read!) but I think I'll leave out much of the hospital details this time....
I honestly don't expect anyone to actually read this but just in case, consider yourself warned of my rambling at the risk of your own boredom!
Here we go... :
THE STORY....
PREDICTION???
We have been planning a 9-day trip to Disneyland and the beach since last December. A few weeks ago as our vacation was approaching and just a week before leaving, we were excitedly talking about our upcoming days in CA at the dinner table one night (just myself and the kids – Chris was at work). I know this next part sounds a bit crazy but it’s true…. Suddenly, out of the blue, Parker stated matter-of-factly that “something very very bad” was going to happen on the way to St. George – where we planned on staying overnight at my Mom and StepDad’s home to break up the drive. Shocked and surprised I leaned in and asked him to repeat what he had just said to be sure I had heard him right. He repeated but didn’t elaborate and I got distracted with Emmie and we never got back to talking about it. I didn't forget about it though. I was left with an unsure and eerie feeling in my gut remembering those words and the strange way he had said it. I tried to get it out of my mind, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Chris and I thought it was so odd that his statement had come out of nowhere like that and it left us both feeling a bit uneasy. Needless to say, we were nervous leading up to our trip because of Parker’s bizarre prediction. I thought of mentioning it to family members at one point but decided to keep it to myself because I didn’t want to concern anyone unnecessarily. After all, I was sure it was just a random thing that for some off-the-wall reason Parker had made up.
I wish it were...
FAST FORWARD to Friday – the day we were leaving to drive to St. George. That whole week our little fam had had the stomach flu on and off. Parker threw up all over himself and his bedroom floor on Thursday night and Emmie had diarrhea for most of that week. I was so sick with body aches and stomach cramps I could barely pack our bags. Awesome. Just what we wanted – the stomach flu as we make an 11 hour trek to Disneyland. I just kept thinking that as long as we got it out of our system before our CA trip officially began that Sunday that all would be fine.
After Chris came home from work that evening (Friday) we left for St. George. Once again, we were a bit apprehensive because of what Parker had said, but we were ready for our long-awaited vacation to begin. We said a prayer before leaving and Chris was extra mindful to be cautious on our drive so off we went. Unfortunately, Chris was plagued by the stomach flu himself on the way. NOT FUN – but we managed to make it to our destination alive. Extremely relieved that we made it to St. G safely, Chris and I joked that the flu must have been the “bad” thing that Parker was referring to the previous week.
Turns out that the flu was the least of our problems that weekend!
Our hotel didn’t start until Sunday, so we just spent Saturday relaxing in St. George. My Mom and Reed were actually in LA for the weekend so we had the house to ourselves. That night, the stomach bug manifested itself once again and Parker got really stomach-sick during the night. After a change of clothes and a load of 1 a.m. laundry, we got through it. The next morning I didn’t wake everyone up as early as we had planned on leaving because I wanted to let them sleep after a rough night of being sick.
While the rest of the crew snoozed and as I was trying to get some things together, I tripped over a suitcase in the family room and broke my little toe. Nice! I was a little ticked to say the least wondering how things could get worse. We were on our way to the Happiest Place on Earth and my entire fam had some remnants of the stomach flu and I was going to be limping around on a broken toe due to my klutziness. Not exactly the best start to our vacation.
Had I only known how minor those setbacks were compared to what was about to happen!
At about 9:45 a.m., I glanced at the clock thinking we would for sure be on the road by 10. We were just about ready. I was packing the cooler in the kitchen and Chris was taking our bags out to the car which were piled up by the garage door. I glanced in at the kids who were in my Mom and Reed’s master bedroom (which is between the garage and kitchen). They were sitting on the fireplace, eating granola bars, watching my Mom’s new kitten play. They were fine. I went back to packing.
Not a minute later Chris went running into the bedroom and started yelling. I heard Parker screaming. I went running. Chris came running out with Parker who was in hysterics. I glanced at his head and started screaming in panic myself.
Chris had found Parker underneath this HUGE, ten foot tall, solid wood door which had obviously fallen on top of him. The next few minutes were a total blur. In complete chaos, we threw the kids into the car and we were off to the ER at Dixie Regional, a six minute drive. Between being absolutely HYSTERICAL to sleepy on the way, Parker was able to tell us what happened. He said that while trying to pet the cat who had gone behind a free standing door that was leaning up against the wall, the cat jumped at him. In fear of being scratched or bitten, he quickly tried to move out of the way, and in so doing, he grabbed the door and managed to cause it to fall on top of himself.
The culprit?
Here it is:
(now laying in the garage)
The door is at least 200 pounds. Everyone keeps asking why there was a free standing door in the room – so in case you’re wondering – it was the master closet door that had been removed because they installed a washer and dryer in the closet which was housed where the door would normally swing.
EMERGENCY ROOM
After a ridiculously slow-moving ER “registration”, we finally made it back to see the doctors. Parker was absolutely hysterical – screaming that his eye hurt “so bad!”. The staff went ahead and administered some pain meds as well as some sedative to calm him so that they could get him back for a cat scan. After what seemed like forever he finally seemed calm enough to take him back for the MRI. Chris went with him and I stayed with Emmie. On their return I was informed that P had thrown up all over the machine, himself, and his blanket, hence he was no longer wearing a shirt. About ten minutes later the grave looking doctor came back in. I immediately knew by the look on his face that the good news we were hopeful of hearing was not what he was about to share with us.
CAT SCAN RESULTS:
In addition to two fractures on his skull and an obvious bad concussion, there was an air bubble next to the brain, which was an indicator that brain damage could develop within 24-48 hours. They were going to life flight him to Primary Children’s in Salt Lake. I went weak in the knees. Those words - LIFEFLIGHT and BRAIN DAMAGE hit me like the wind was just knocked out of me. I couldn't breathe. We were absolutely devastated to say the least and just in disbelief that this had happened. We were supposed to be halfway to California by now! We were supposed to be running to the Matterhorn first thing the following morning to ride Parker’s requested “first ride of the day”. We had talking up this trip for a good six months and now we were about to embark on a very different ride than we anticipated. Instead of flying through Peter Pan and down Splash Mountain, Parker and I were about to fly on an Air med plane to Primarys with a head injury that could be potentially be life changing. I felt like I was in a really bad dream. I found irony in the fact that the previous night I had borrowed a random T-shirt to sleep in from my Mom's closet that was adorned with the words, “LIFEFLIGHT” across the front. (She'd obviously gotten it from work as she is a nurse.)
I was a nervous wreck getting on that small Air Med plan. I am terrified of small planes which just amplified the already terrifying experience that had unfolded that morning. I snapped this picture (above) with my phone right before we took off and sent it to a few family members wondering if I’d see them alive again. Dramatic I know, but honestly with the direction that this day was rolling, in my mind it was not out of the question that this plane might not make it to Salt Lake.
My fear of flying on this plane however was far overshadowed by my devastated thoughts of the possibility of our bright-eyed, always inquisitive, constant chatterbox little Parker having a damaging brain injury. How could that be possible?! How could we be in this situation?! I couldn’t let those thoughts overtake my emotions. I wouldn’t let them. The possibilities weren’t reality yet and I had to concentrate on having faith that he would be okay. I cried. And prayed. A lot. The two air medic nurses flying with us gave me sympathetic looks across the seats. I appreciated their silent attempts at consoling me but I just wanted to sink into my seat & be left alone in my agony. I kept throwing glances at Parker's chest to make sure he was still breathing. That will certainly go down in history as one of the worst hours of my life.
As we landed at the airport in Salt Lake a HUGE sense of relief rushed over me. I suddenly felt that things were going to be okay and I felt such a surge of strength. I could feel that people were already praying for us. I have never been so grateful to get off a plane in my life! We were escorted to the awaiting ambulance and took the slowest moving ambulance ride ever to the hospital. I think that because it was a brain injury that they were moving so slow? Once inside we were escorted by an entourage of people and Parker was wheeled into a large room full of doctors. I was told that I couldn’t go in for about ten minutes until they had done some assessments. Immediately a male social worker named Marc was by my side asking me tons of questions. He was very kind and gracious and told me that we had a waiting room full of family outside. With poor Chris and Emmie driving up from St. George and still hours away, I was so grateful to know that we had a room full of loved ones ready to lean on.
I completely lost all concept of time that day but after several hours (?) of assessments and the BEST NEWS EVER that the neuro doc wasn't worried about brain damage, Parker was transferred to the 2nd floor NTU, where we would spend the good part of the week.
His recovery at the hospital had it's ups and downs. I was frustrated a number of times with the nurses who let Parker's pain get out of control way too many times. I quickly figured out that I had to be vigilant in keeping track of what pain meds he was having when and when the next doses were due because there were too many incidences where he would wake up screaming in agonizing pain, due to the neglect of having his medication administered to him on time.
Because of the concussion there was a lot of throwing up so the first two days he only drank a little water. On his first try at solids he requested (okay insisted) on having none other than his all time favorite - strawberries. He threw up that entire bowl but hey it was a good attempt. The next day he requested plain noodles with Italian dressing for breakfast and some grapes. MMMmmmm. This time he was finally successful in keeping the food down which was a huge step of progress in overcoming the concussion symptoms and a step towards going home. Apparently he liked this meal because he requested it 3 more times passing up chicken nuggets, french fries, pizza and chocolate shakes.
This little guy is so loved! We had family visiting every day and our ward was wonderful and so quick to serve us. Our Relief Society President was at the hospital within an hour or two of finding out the news, the Bishop and his wife were up to visit within the first day, our home teachers offered to come up right away, and my awesome visiting teachers showed up with the most AMAZING gift basket full of goodies, snacks, & activities not only for Parker but also for Chris and I. The text messags, phone calls, cards, well wishes, stuffed animals, activity books sent for Parker, etc. etc. poured in. Among those much appreciated acts of kindness, the key ingredient was absolutely the prayers! I could honestly feel their power during those days. What a humbling experience to have so many people praying for you. I know that they resulted in Parker’s quick turn around and expedited recovery. We were and still are overwhelmed with gratitude at such an outpouring of love! To be the recipients of so much goodness made me appreciate even more how wonderful it is to be a member of the church! To have this network in place of such selfless people who are willing and ready to serve and support you and do anything for you in a heartbeat including stopping what they are doing and praying for you – what a humbling experience and tremendous blessing and we are so thankful!
THE PLAYROOM
After a several days we made a few attempts at taking Parker up to the playroom by a wagon ride to see how he'd do on his feet. The first time around he was a bit woozy and after painting two pictures wanted to lay back down in the wagon and go back to his room. But little by little he made progress and by late Wednesday he'd checked off all the vital components necessary in his ability to go home. YAY!
GOING HOME!
Finally! What a week it had been. We went from the news that our dimpled little cutie might be brain damaged to 4 days later having our regular little Parker come home with us, bright eyes and all. His eye has healed incredibly quickly. It's hardly black at all anymore. He had a doctors appointment last week and they were absolutely amazed at his progress already. It's been the prayers I tell ya!
Like I said in the last post, he has to have two feet on the ground for 6 weeks. No running, climbing, jumping, no soccor, swingsets, trampolines, scooter, etc... basically we're just locking him up inside to avoid all those temptations! Not such an easy task for a normally bouncing-of-the-walls 4 year old boy who ADORES his friends, but we are surviving it all fine and are so grateful to have walked away from this accident with just a few temporary limitations. We've also taken him out of playgroup for the next while because he gets a little to rowdy with his cute friends and it's just too big a risk that he'd bump his head again. He will always have to be extra careful and will definitely always be wearing a helmet for anything active - but thank goodness we had already been practicing that important habit and precaution when riding his scooter! The neurologist was very frank about the fact that if Parker were to get another bonk in the same spot on his head in the next several months that it could be fatal. SCARY!
We are just so glad to be home and getting this behind us. We're so grateful to be on this end of things as we know that it could have been so much worse! We're finally coming out of the fog of the emotional trauma of it all and feeling somewhat normal again. I have been horrible at returning phone calls (I'm sorry!) and even text messages but know how much I appreciate everyone's concern. We've just been exhausted and talking about it more just hasn't been appealing - hence why my lack of motivation in doing this blog post! (I don't even have it in me to proofread it right now so sorry for any typos or confusing statements!)
But so glad to have it recorded! Parker is one special little boy and this experience is further testament of that. Thank you so much for all of your comments and support. It means more than you know!
Give your little ones an extra hug today. You never know when things might take a turn for the unexpected.
xoxo
On the way home, we stopped by my cute Grandma's house whose birthday present for Miss Em had come late in the mail, but was now ready and waiting. Isn't it a darling suitcase? It was well worth the wait! :) It was even filled will all kinds of cute knick knacks for a future vacation. My Grandma is 