Road to Recovery

It has been one crazy month! I wish this was made up, but it isn't.

Tuesday, August 28th, I took the kids to Target to look for some shoes for Kayla. When we left, I drove on the access road to head to H-E-B to get some groceries. A guy came out of nowhere, ran a red light and basically t-boned front part of the Honda Pilot and pushed me into the Target parking lot (there were two entrances.) Essentially, there was over $20,000 worth of damage, so it is a total loss. The great news is that I absorbed most of the force and the kids only suffered a small burn from the seat belt. I ended up with whiplash, a huge bruise on my abdomen, bruises throughout my body because of the seat belt, a burn on my left hand from the air bags deploying, and back pain. The kids are fine and I had no broken bones, thank the Lord! Looking at the car, the driver's side door was hit, the area where the kids were sitting was missed and then the back driver's side was hit, causing the window to shatter.

This is where the kids were sitting.

The side curtain air bag.

Thankfully, this happened around Labor Day, so we were able to get a new on with a really great interest rate on a 2012 Honda Pilot. We got the same exact car because it held up to the force. The damage really should have been worse.

Then, Tuesday, September 4th, I was upstairs doing some stuff with the car wreck and Kevin was downstairs tearing up lettuce with the kids. We have three dogs (Argon and Harlow, Siberian Huskies and Porter, a German Shepherd/Siberian Husky mix...all 80-90 lbs.) I heard Porter growl and then silence. Then, I heard the dogs fighting. Just then, Kevin started yelling for me. I ran/fell down the stairs, crashing into the baby gate at the bottom and spraining my ankle. I hopped over to see what was going on and Kevin just handed Bryce to me. He was crying and his face was covered in blood. Porter had bitten his face.

Bryce, still crying, immediately put his head on my shoulder. When I got a good look, I noticed that his eyelid was hanging off and his forehead was open. Shaking, I shooed the dogs outside and Kevin called 911. He took Bryce back and I got on the phone with the dispatcher. Within 5 minutes, EMS pulled up and wrapped his head in a bandage and put him in the ambulance. Kevin went with him since he was there at the time of the accident. I grabbed Kayla without any shoes on, got in the Pilot and headed to the hospital.

When I got to the ER, I received a visitor's badge and found their room. Kevin was sitting on the bed holding Bryce. Social Services came in and got some information from us, then brought back some water and crackers for Kayla. When the doctor came in to look at Bryce's wounds, he said that he would call plastic surgery immediately. One of the doctors or residents (I don't know which...I was too panicked) came in for a consult and left to book the OR. Two more nurses came in to put an IV in Bryce's arm and gave him some morphine to ease the pain. Just then, Kayla started to get fussy so I brought her home to get some food and laid her down to sleep. Around 9:30, they wheeled B back to the OR. My Grandmother showed up to the house around 11:00 to look after Kayla and I went back to the hospital.

Kevin updated me: He said that all of the nurses in the hospital told him that we got the best plastic surgeon in the hospital. The surgeon told Kevin that it was worse than he thought. Porter's tooth went pretty far back into his eye socket so he would be worried about infection but there wasn't even a scratch on B's eyeball (aka globe). The surgeon was surprised. Shortly after midnight, we were brought back into ICU to see him where they were monitoring his vitals and keeping him sedated and on pain meds. We got back to his private room around 1:30 a.m., changed his diaper, and tried to lay down on a pull out couch. He woke up a few times in pain. :( There is nothing worse for parents than to see their child in pain and knowing that they can't do much about it.

We stayed in the hospital until he was released on Friday, September 7th. During the stay, he had wonderful nurses and his surgeon was amazing. The ophthalmologist came to look at Bryce's eye on Thursday but didn't realize his eyelids were stitched together (for better healing) and she tried to pull his eye open! Since then, he has been very cautious and hasn't wanted anyone to change his diaper or touch him.

He was discharged at noon on Friday. He has more than 20 sutures on his head and eye. He has to take antibiotics and we have to put ointment on his wounds. He is a trooper, though. He hasn't needed pain meds since we've been home and most of the time, he just plays with his toys. A couple of times, though, he has woken up angry because he can't see out of his eye. His stitches come out on Wednesday and the ophthalmologist is coming to look at his eye at the same time.

This is almost a week after Porter bit him. The swelling in his right eye has gone down and he doesn't have the bandages anymore. We had an amazing plastic surgeon!

We dropped Porter off at the shelter on Saturday. His bite to Bryce was out of anxiety, not aggression, because we have moved a few times in the past few years. It was a tough decision since he has been a part of our family since he was a puppy almost five years ago. At the same time, it was tougher seeing the pain that Bryce went through. Before we left for the shelter, Bryce walked up to Porter and petted him. It was a heart warming moment to know that even after all of that, he still isn't afraid.

We are a lot more cautious with our other dogs now. Harlow and Argon are a lot more gentle with the kids than Porter was. In fact, just today, Bryce was giving them treats. In fact, Kevin even told me that after Porter bit Bryce, Harlow came in and attacked Porter. She is very protective of everyone in our family when it comes to other dogs growling or biting us. I am thankful for her.

Since the accident, we have had a lot of people pull through for us and offer help or just giving us an ear to listen. The day of the accident, I went to the chiropractor for the first time. His office sent Bryce a beanie baby and a book, and a beanie baby for Kayla as well. Kevin's work (he has only been there two weeks) sent balloons to Bryce. A friend of mine called a church down here and they visited us at the hospital and brought us food. It is amazing to me that strangers are willing to spend the time to pray for and comfort a child who has been hurt.

The Lord performs miracles and I would say that the outcomes of both of these accidents are among those miracles.