Seven Months Later...

It is hard to believe that seven months have passed since my hubs fell on our driveway while blowing off fallen leaves.

After our arrival at the hospital which is a designated major trauma center, we found the staff waiting for us outside the ER doors. They wasted no time in whisking him through some swinging doors while I was taken to a waiting area. At this point, I am thinking that hubs just has a concussion--that they will bring him around and come get me and we'll all laugh at how silly the whole incident was. My daughter arrived from work shortly after to wait with me and we were not particularly concerned at that moment.

One hour later a staff member invites us to wait in a small private room; a clergyman then walks in and starts making small talk with us. We still have no clue as to what is really going on behind those swinging doors. Finally a member of the Trauma Team (a neurosurgeon) comes to join us. I ask her if he is conscious and she gives me an odd look and then proceeds to enumerate all the things that are going wrong for the hubs. He has a very large subdural hematoma and a subarachnoid bleed in some very crucial parts of his brain. He is in a deep coma. They think he may not survive the night. I am frozen; convinced that someone is playing a bad joke on me. How could this be? He didn't fall off a roof; or while hiking in Colorado as he does every summer. He was cleaning our driveway. I felt a surreal mist surrounding me as a gazed at the neurosurgeon. I need clarification...."Are you actually telling me my husband could die tonight?", I asked her. She very calmly nodded and clarified that, actually, the next 5 days and nights would most likely be touch and go in terms of whether he would make it or not.

I remember holding my daughter as she cried. But as for myself, all I can remember is numbness. Somehow we were taking to a special trauma ICU waiting area where we could spend the night. Thus began the watch which lasted for many days more than anyone expected. To be continued....

The Day Everything Changed...

Tuesday, October12, 2010...this is the day that my life changed forever. My husband, Bubba, leaned over to kiss me goodbye as he left for work. I kissed him back and murmured "I love you" just as I do each morning. The day passes....I pay bills for the rest of the month....Bubba calls to ask for advice on a restaurant for lunch with one of his best friends. I do some laundry.  As ordinary day as one can  imagine passes by.

At 3:30 Bubba arrives home unexpectedly early. Puzzled but delighted, I kissed him hello and asked why he was  home a few minutes early. "I think it's going to rain tonight and I want to blow the leaves off the lower deck and driveway so we don't have a soggy mess. I want to waterproof the deck this weekend." He proceeds to change into work clothing and begins his tasks.

Meanwhile, I have moved to the master suite in the back wing of the house where I am talking on the phone. Suddenly I hear my mother in law scream my name and run from my room to see her RUNNING to the front door. I am right behind her and see Bubba lying flat on his back on the blacktop. Immediately I try to assess his condition.....he is breathing....moaning....I ask him "Does it hurt? Where does it hurt?" His eyes are half open and I realize that his cognitive function is compromised. I immediately run into the house and call 911. The operator asks for details and I can see his chest moving and he is sweating and breathing but he is unresponsive.

Eight minutes later EMT arrives...makes a quick assessment that mirrors mine and we are bundled into the ambulance. It is rush hour. A twenty minute white knuckle ride at averaging 98 MPH with full sirens, lights and horns later we arrive at the local Level One Trauma Center where staff is waiting in the arrival bay for us.