My family :) (Christine's in the middle)
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I REMEMBER....
It has been 6 months since the accident and I still remember the tone of voice my friend used when she called me on my cell phone that January 14th at 4:30 in the morning. I remember looking at my phone wondering why this person would be calling me this early in the morning, and then I remembered that Christine and Melvin went to a birthday party that night so I quickly answered. I remember her saying "Raechel!!! Christine and Melvin have been in a car accident, you need to get here now" Surprisingly enough, I was as calm as I could be. I rushed upstairs to my parents room and woke them up saying that we needed to leave, Christine was in an accident. I got in my car and waited for mom and Angela and her friend to get in, Dad would meet us there (if it was even serious) after his bus route. As we pull up to the scene of the accident, I still remember the smashed metal of a car up against a huge metal pole. I saw the bloody blankets on the ground near the car and the bloody air bags. I saw that that the door had been taken off to obviously help get someone out and that is when I knew that this was not just an accident, this was bad. I yell at mom and tell her to stay back as I yell at the cops asking where Christine was. The cop said that they had already been taken to Huntsville Hospital by ambulance and to get there as soon as we could. We jump back in the car and drive to HH and get to the Emergency Center.
We tell them who we are looking for and ask them if they are okay. The woman at the desk said that she could not tell us and that we needed to sit down. NOT TELL US?!!? So I ask her "Is she at least alive?" and the woman shakes her head yes. We sit down and wait for the doctor or nurse to come tell us what is going on. Finally, a nurse comes and gets us and takes us back to this back room. Mom, Angela, Carolyn, and myself sit down and the lady shuts the door. This is when I knew for sure that something was not right. I have seen too many Grey's Anatomy episodes, too many hospital shows to know that this is not good. The lady tells us that she is alive, but she can not feel or move her legs, and that she has a broken neck and they are about to take her into surgery. Mom is the first to go talk to Christine, I stay back to call Dad and tell him he needs to come to the hospital. I remember him asking me How bad is it? and I have to tell him that she can't feel her legs and he is silent (something my dad is not known for) and I say that he needs to get here and hang up. I then walk down the hall to the ER that Christine in laying in, where mom is standing next to her looking over her. As I walk in, I notice my ripped up shirt with blood all over it in a pile with the rest of her clothes and my necklace broken near the pile. As I look over Christine, she looks at me and says "I'm sorry about your shirt" and for the first time the tears start flowing lol I tell her I don't care and ask her how she is doing. She said Well I guess I won't be talking to my Shadow nurse for school. She was worried about school and not her legs?!! Granted it was only the second week in her last semester of nursing school, but still?! that crazy girl. I asked Mom about Melvin and she tells me that Melvin is in the room next to Christine and that his face is torn up really bad because half his face went through the windshield. He has glass all in his face and that his arm is pretty messed up. I hear commotion in his room and walk out of Christine's room and hear the nurses say that Melvin is trying to tear his tubes out so that he can go see Christine. I tell Melvin it will be alright and to stay calm. As I walk back into Christine's room, Dad shows up. I can see in his eyes, his and mom's, that they are scared. We spend a little more time in the room before Dad walks out of the room and starts making phone calls for people to start praying. Many, many phone calls. While we wait for the doctors to get ready, I meet Melvin's family and talk to them and tell them all I know. Then Mom and I go with Christine up until she is rolled away for the surgery. You never really know what that feels like until it happens, You see it on TV, but as soon as your hand lets go you wonder if she will ever look at you again. Mom and I go to the surgery waiting room and when we walk in, there is already a group of people ready to pray with us and be there for us.
Here is a picture of the car from the accident: (Going a little too fast over a hill and didn't know there was a turn and then a stop light right after the hill):
This is what the front of the car looked like
I called Mark at like 5 that morning and He is now there waiting to be there for me.I felt like a broadcaster because I had to keep telling people what was going on and what happened. Which I didn't mind because it kept me busy and my mind calm (mostly). Melvin ended up having a 6 hour surgery on his face by a plastic surgeon and the doctor told us it was a MIRACLE that he did not get any glass in his eyes, he had glass everywhere else, but his eyeballs!! Praise God. The same doctor that checked to see if Melvin had a broken neck was the same doctor that did Christine's surgery. So Christine's surgery was next. By this time, Zack and Michelle were on their way to the hospital. They got picked up by some family friends. When they got there we had to sit them down and tell them what was going on. I still remember the looks on their faces and how they looked towards the ground, wondering what was happening. Ben came a little late after wrestling practice and learned about what was happening, During all this, I was on Facebook and texting people keeping them up to date with what was going on. We were finally called into the family meeting room with the doctor and he came in and talked to us. He told us that the surgery went very well and that the next few days would be very crucial for her but that we need to be prepared that her being paralyzed is going to be permanent. Christine got transferred to the NICU and Melvin was in the SICU. Christine was doing so well the first day and a half she was there that the nurses were expecting her to get transferred to another hospital in the next couple of days. Her spirits were high, she was joking around with the nurses and with us. It was amazing and she was so strong. Christine then started getting sick because of fluid that was getting to her lungs, which is very common for a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI). She was in so much pain because the medicine that she was on wasn't working for nerve pain and she was awake most of the time so she couldn't just sleep through it. We were only allowed to see her during the 4 visiting periods that were 20 minutes each. We would go in and talk to her. Mom stayed at the hospital every single day and slept there. I spent the night most of the time there with her. Melvin got released 2 days after the accident, his face was healing and they were going to keep up to date with his arm where he pulled ligaments and muscle
The night that Christine got really bad was Thursday night, 5 days after the wreck. I went home with my family and Dad and I went to bed. Dad woke me up in the middle of the night and said "Raechel, Christine got bad during the night, we need to get to the hospital" It was like it was happening again. I didn't know how bad it was, just that she was getting worse. Dad started praying on the way to the hospital, as we pulled up Dad said " Please God if she is going to be in pain just take her" That's when I knew that He didn't tell me all what was going on. AS I found out when I got to the room that they put Mom in while she was waiting for us, was that Christine's heart rate got so low that they had to start doing CPR to get it back up. By the time we got there, she was better, but they had to drug her up to where she really wouldn't know what was going on when we went in and visited her. She was also put on a ventilator that would help her breathe. We found out later that day that Dad's side of the family was coming to see us and Christine and to be there for us. They were so helpful during that time. Christine developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and that night Mom and I stayed at the hospital and were called in the middle of the night saying that Christine developed pneumonia and was going to be transferred to a different room and was going to be put on a Rotoprone Bed. After she finally got transferred into this bed, we were told that she would be in a total drug induced coma and that this was her last hope, after this there is nothing else they can do that would help her. Here is what this bed looks like:
After Christine and Mom left to go to Birmingham, we had a lot to do at home before they got back. We had to build a ramp so that Christine could get into the house and we had to redo the downstairs so that it was livable. Christine, Angela and me had planned on moving out in May, but since that wasn't going to happen now we had to renovate our basement, which we can get to through the back of our house. Thank God!! So while I was trying to take 5 classes, I also had to pack up our basement and help redo the upstairs, while sleeping on the couch in our living room =p During this time, Ben was preparing for State for Wrestling and he ended up winning State for the Second time. We were able to Skype Christine and mom during the matches so that they knew what was going on. We were in the newspaper quite a few times, so our family got kind of famous. lol Every Sunday we were able to go visit her while she was there. Every time we looked at each other, our eyes would tear up. I can't even really explain it to this day, it's like we can read each other's minds, I felt her worries, her fears inside of me. She didn't have to voice them. I just knew. So every time it was my turn to hug her or talk to her, it was just waterworks lol. Eventually she got off the ventilator and started eating regular food and talking again. Here are some pictures of us at the hospital:
Angela, Christine, and me
Christine and Mommy!
Christine and Mom then got transferred to Spain Rehab Hospital where Christine started getting stronger and mom learning how to do different things. Her and Mom missed us a lot and you could tell that they were ready to come home. While they were away, we completely repainted most of the upstairs and put in some new walls and widened the doors and built a ramp. Downstairs they tore all the walls down and restructured them into new rooms. FINALLY, Christine and Mom came home!!!! Christine is a quadparaplegic with full use of her arms (which is uncommon in most quads) but her fingers still need therapy and are getting better. She is paralyzed from the chest down. Her balance is getting better every day though. She is much stronger than she was when she first arrived home.
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It has now been 4 months since Christine has been home and so much has happened. Christine did therapy for the first 3 months 3 times a week. She learned that she is going to be able to graduate this coming Spring 2013!! The nursing school is working with her so that she will be able to have that nursing degree. She will be taking the class this fall and then do the shadowing in the Spring. Melvin is doing really well. His arm is growing more muscle and he can use his fingers and hand now, but from the shoulder down, he still can't move it on it's own. It could take years for it to heal the doctor said. We have been able to take a couple trips, Our family went to six flags and a Braves game and then this past week we went to Indiana to see family that we haven't seen in a while. We went to one of Christine's best friend's wedding, we are still finding things we are able to do. :) I know this has to be so hard for her, but she is strong. She may not think so some days, but looking and seeing everything she has gone through is so empowering. Our family is so much closer than we have ever been and we love each other so much. Our faith is strong and we believe that God has put our family through this because He knew we would pull through and be able to handle it. God doesn't put people through something they can't go through.
I am now a graduate from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. It was the hardest semester of my life, but getting through it showed me that I am stronger than I thought. We are still waiting on the basement to get finished. Just the bathroom and the kitchen need to get finished and we will be able to move in. I sleep in our bedroom downstairs the is full of boxes and empty walls, but I know in time it will all come together. This is a life changing experience and we are learning new things and feeling new emotions every single day. I will definitely keep updating this now and we want to be an inspiration to other people or families who may be going through situations like this. I will finish this off now because I feel like my hands are going to fall off. =p Here are a couple more pictures and I promise to write more often because I want people to be inspired by us and what we have learned and what we are still learning. Come along with us on this journey :)
Graduate!!
Mark and I :)
Our first outing, Braves Game!
Christine and I
Ben's graduation
