Most of you probably already heard about my accident early in December. But for those of you just hearing of it I'll tell the whole story. On December 6th I went to the doctor because I have trouble falling asleep. It generally takes anywhere from 30 min to 2 hours for me to fall asleep (on bad nights longer than that). Anyhow, so I went to the doctor and he was trying to not give me something with addictive properties in it. So he gave me some samples. Well I have low blood pressure and the strength was way too much and when I woke up the next morning I was heavily sedated. I generally go to the laundry room door to wave bye to Joe as he is leaving for work. I got to the door and don't remember anything after that. Joe says I didn't wave and closed the door. He heard a loud bang that startled him, but we had been having some trouble with the car and he thought it was that, he had no idea how sedated I was. What he actually heard was the back of my head hitting the tile floor. I must have been locked kneed and went straight back and hit my head.
We have no idea how long I was unconscious on the floor and I have total memory loss of it, but at some point I got up, closed the garage door and got back into bed where JR and Emily were asleep. Besides thanking God daily for my injures not being worse than they are, I thank Him for letting the kids sleep through all of it. It is one of my worst fears for the kids to find me unconscious on the floor bleeding. About an hour and a half after Joe left I remember waking up and being so foggy brained that I didn't think I could go to work, so lying still in bed I called Cora and (the conversation I don't remember) I told her that I needed Bob to come pick the kids up. Then (again I don't remember this) I called Joe and told him I was throwing up and was scared. As soon as he heard that he came home as fast as he could. When he got here I remember looking up and telling him the back of my head hurt and I could feel a bump, when I pulled my hand away from my damp hair I looked at my hand it was covered in blood. Joe saw the blood on the floor of the laundry room and saw me throwing up and realized I had a concussion. (I was going to post a picture of the blood on the floor but don't want to gross you out. It was a thin layer of blood about 6 inches in diameter with whisps of hair marks on the sides.) Then I don't remember anything. Joe took the kids threw them in the car and put me in it, throwing up in a garbage can (don't remember any of this), dropped the kids off at Cora's and we went to St. Mary's.
In the ER they took a CT scan and it was good. They cleaned and checked the back of my head and said they could put one staple in but thought it might heal okay on it's own, and gave me anti-nausea drip to stop me from throwing up. At some point my parents got there and I can sort of picture them in the room. They decided to admit me and observe me overnight. They say with patients who pass out they want to watch the heart to rule out any heart conditions that could have caused the loss of consciousness. So I was admitted to cardiology. I had a BAD headache- it felt like my brain was two sizes too big to fit in my skull. And the vertigo was gnarly (still is a bit). So bad I needed anti-nausea meds even after I got released. The thing that scared me the most though was the fear of falling again. I had lots of great help and care. All our friends came to see me, I got flowers, a plant, peppermint bark, and lots of thoughtful notes.
I ended up getting another CT scan the next morning because the whole back of my head swelled up pretty good and they just wanted to make sure nothing had changed. The results again were fine, but I was still pretty unstable on my feet so they kept me another night to get me feeling stronger and more confident.
The first week was rough, I had to sit on a stool in the shower because I was so dizzy and didn't want to slip and fall. My parents came over when Joe was at work and took care of the kids and me, cooked, cleaned you name it. I was able to stay awake for about 2-4 hours then I needed a nap. The second week was better. I was able to walk around better but would still steady myself with the wall or counter when I walked and still needed the stool in the shower. The hardest parts were trying to put the towel in my hair after the shower, and when I'd get into bed rolling over the vertigo was CRAZY, I'd have to literally hold on for dear life to Joe in fear I was going to fly off the bed because I was so dizzy. But after about 15-20 seconds it would go away. My doctor, well the real Doc, not the nurse practitioner that gave me the pills (I was a little gun shy and wanted to see the real doctor when I got out of the hospital) spoke with a neurologist and suggested an MRI.
About a week and a half after my fall I realized I had lost my sense of smell. Joe had mentioned several times about things smelling but I just thought he was crazy, then one day in the shower I opened a new shampoo bottle, after washing my hair I realized I hadn't smelled the different smell of the new shampoo, so I took a bottle of body wash and gave it several hard squeezes under my nose, and nothing! Joe happened to be in the bathroom and I did the same to him and he said it smelled. Man was I miffed! No smell! It was days away from Christmas and the smells of baking, cooking, the tree, all of it is so wonderful this time of year and I was going to miss it. Plus I started to become very afraid of real threatening smells that I might miss that could be dangerous like smoke and chemicals. So I made an appointment with the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor.
Christmas came and went (those I'll post too) and we got an MRI done, and everything was fine. And I recently visited the ENT doctor He did hearing tests, and all is good. He said I have vertigo (no kidding! I could have told you that... oh wait I did) and he did a procedure on me to see if it would help, but it didn't which the doctors said it means I have Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, and that my vertigo should tapper out in 3-6 months. He also said my sense of smell will come back in a few months since I didn't loose my sense of taste and that I am starting to be able to smell things through my left nostril.
So to how I'm doing now... well I have Post Concussion Syndrome which has great symptoms such as: vertigo, inability to think clearly, loss of senses, and depression. I also have a hematoma where I hit my head, but it is starting to heal and go away. Things could be much worse, and I am grateful for things progressing. They are not as fast as we'd like them but they are getting better. I started driving about a week and a half ago, my smell is getting stronger in my left nostril and I'm optimistic about it's full return in a few months. The vertigo is getting better, I can put my hair up in the towel after a shower without someone holding me or sitting but I still lean on something like the counter. I can shower standing up without the stool, and I am able to concentrate more (though there are days that are worse than others). I still get pretty dizzy and hold onto Joe when turning over in bed, it is an awful feeling. The thing I hate the most is the fear. I still get knots in my stomach walking on any hard surface. I have now taught JR how to pick up the phone and call 911 and what to say in case of an emergency (not a happy feeling in that lesson). I literally feel sick to my stomach when I hear loud banging noises and it hurts my teeth. I am afraid of falling again and I am afraid of something happening to me again that I wasn't planning on. I guess that is a natural mother feeling when you have so much to loose... but it's real... and it sucks.
I go back to work on Monday...ugh! I know it will take a little time but soon I'll be back in the swing of things. Lessons learned: don't take sleeping pills, teach kids 911 just in case, the stress of work and minor responsibilities don't matter in the big picture, and that I have a WONDERFUL husband who loves me so much, the best family who cares for me immensely, and great friends who are there for me whenever I need them. With this I'll end this post and wish you a safe, healthy and very happy New Year.
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