My Absence

The week of January 27th - February 1st was possibly the most overwhelming week of my life, and things have still been crazy since, hence my absence from the blog.  It's taken me several days just to write this post :/

I got back from the girl's trip to LA Sunday the 19th (and yes, I do plan to finish blogging about that trip, even if I just throw the pictures up). Monday the 20th we found out the home we were fairly certain we'd get to move into had been leased to someone else. So we were back to square one with the house hunting (I guess I haven't mentioned on here that our apartment lease was up February 1st so we spent all of January looking for a rental home). We spent the next few days looking at several more homes and applied to one that weekend.  Monday (the 27th) we found out we got the home!  We were so excited and relieved that we could move into it over the course of the week (move out day was Saturday). Well scratch that, Tuesday Trent got a text that there was a mistake and they had accepted someone else's application before ours.  Major let-down.  We resorted to moving in with Trent's parents while we looked for a new home.  We didn't want to pay all of the extra money to stay in our apartment month-to-month (we had already done that for January).  THURSDAY we got another call saying never mind, those people backed out, the house is ours if we want it.  WOW.  We seriously didn't know whether to be happy or not - we were just so frustrated with the whole situation and had already started moving stuff over to Tanis and Kent's.  Of course we decided to take it though.

Amidst all of this, my dad suffered a brain injury late Wednesday afternoon (the 29th).  Are you keeping up (ha)??  My mom called saying my dad was in an ambulance on his way to Mercy Gilbert Hospital.  She said they had been to their new personal trainer earlier in the afternoon and during/after the workout Dad was saying more than usual that he was really light-headed.  Afterward he still decided to go straight over to help with the horses (his close friend, Pat, owns a whole bunch of horses and Dad has been able to really help out with training them - his absolute passion!).  None of us really know what went on after this point.  Kayla (Pat's daughter - probably about my age), came into the workroom (with all of the saddles and such) and Dad was lying on the concrete with his feet propped up.  She asked him what was going on and apparently he said something about how he was feeling very light-headed and something wasn't right.  She stepped out for a minute and apparently heard a shuffle and then a loud thud.  She said it is a noise she will never forget - my dad's head hitting the concrete :/ The rest of this is all assumption from Kayla and Pat according to where/how they found him.  They assume he had decided to stand up, but could feel himself starting to pass out.  He went to grab onto a ledge or something, but it was too late.  He passed out and fell forward hitting his face/head HARD on this ledge or whatever, which then propelled him backward, and they found him flat on his back.  The initial fall forward broke his nose and two bones at the top of his skull and caused his brain to start bleeding.  They called an ambulance and could not get Dad to respond for like half an hour.

Mom had no idea what was going on as she headed to the ER and just assumed he was dehydrated and they'd stick an IV in him.  It had to have been pretty shocking when she found out he had sustained a significant brain injury and was in critical condition.  Many tears were shed.  There were just so many questions.  But amidst all of this, that night I actually felt really calm about everything.  I just couldn't believe this was all happening right when we were moving out of our apartment (and being pregnant) and was bummed I couldn't be there more and of more help.

The next days proved to be a little more difficult.  We found out that in addition to his broken nose, skull, and bleeding brain, he also couldn't move his right leg.  It amazes us that this all came about because he simply passed out.

Friday morning (the 31st), after another MRI, the neurologist told my mom that "there is significant damage in the brain" and that there was a possibility Dad wouldn't remember anything (we later came to realize that he was probably just giving us the worst-case scenario). I was a sobbing mess when I got off the phone with my mom.  Tanis had come over that morning to help us really get moving on packing and cleaning. I couldn't stop crying, so when Aiden's nap rolled around, Trent and Tanis decided I should just take Aiden back to their place and put him down for his nap and get some rest myself (Tanis, I cannot thank you enough for all of your help).  I couldn't sleep though.  Too many things running through my mind.  That was the worst day of the experience for me.  Amidst everything else, the girls decided to drive down from Utah and Jill's car completely broke down somewhere outside of Vegas. They had to have the car towed and rent a car to make it the rest of the way down.  WOW.  So Jill spent a good portion of her time down here in AZ buying a new car..ha.

I won't update about every day since Dad's accident, but we have seen some good progress.  For instance, the day after the accident he knew my mom was Kim, but thought she was his sister, and he could not tell the doctor his birthday.  He also didn't realize he was in the hospital and just assumed he was at the doctor's.  He has that all back now, but still has a little bit of short-term memory loss, like sometimes he can't remember what's happened just a few hours ago. But doctors/therapists anticipate a full recovery over time.  February 1st he was moved from the ICU into a regular room and then on the 4th, his birthday, he was moved over to a rehab facility for 10 days. While there, he spent about 4 hours a day working with a speech, occupational, and physical therapist.

This is just a quick picture from Dad's birthday.  He is looking so much better now and hardly has any bruising around his eyes anymore.

And just a quick story.  That night we brought Dad a banana cream pie - one of his favorites.  Jill called while we were there to wish him a happy birthday and they were chatting for a few minutes.  We could tell he was thinking really hard what pie we brought him, but he just couldn't remember, and ended up telling her that we brought a sour green apple pie!!  That gave us a good laugh!  We were wondering what in the world Jill thought on the other end of the line ;)

Friday, Valentine's Day, he was released from rehab, but will continue outpatient therapy for a while.  He had to be fitted with a custom brace for his right leg and will need to use a walker for a while.  I think he's happy to be home, but he's giving Mom some trouble with eating and drinking much.  His therapists said it's likely his brain is not telling him he's hungry.

Anyway, sorry for the long post.  I wanted to have this for my records and inform you all why I've been away.  Just in closing, I already told Mom this, but I have been so impressed with how she has handled everything.  It is not easy.  She has really stayed very calm through this whole crazy experience and Dad is sure lucky to have her waiting on him.  We are so grateful for all of the thoughts and prayers and well wishes.  My aunt Karen (Dad's sister) flew in last night to help out for several days, which we are so grateful for.  We think she'll really lift Dad's spirits (and Mom's) and give Mom a bit of a break.  I hope to be able to help out more as well now that we are pretty well settled into our new home.