Then the phone rang about 5 minuets after walking in the door and the news came. My husbands mom called saying that his step-mom called her frantic, looking for us. They had a bad wreck on the way home we were needed at the Med now! We had no idea what to expect and heard small rumors here and there that the truck flipped over, that they were flown by helicopter, etc. We dropped the kids off, picked up his 2 sisters, and drove back towards Memphis. It was long awkward silences in the car, in between small chit-chatty conversation which made it very apparent that everyone was nervous.
We get to the Med and have to wait in a line to find out how to get to the Trauma unit. It seemed like hours as we waited patiently in line behind several others. Some one walked us down and we all went in. Marti started crying- so grateful to see someone she knew and Michael's dad- was just there. She looked great, only a broken collarbone and very shaken up. Wayne on the other hand looked like some one had run him over with a truck! He laid there, not complaining, smiling because his family came. Now... most of you do not know my husbands family but if you do, you know that they are not very good about showing emotion- good or bad. They do not really show excitement when they are happy and don't really talk about things the way I thought families did. I grew up if something was on your mind- you talked about it! You got the good, the bad, and the ugly out in the open and did not pretend that elephant was not in the room!
I knew his dad was upset when he asked one of his girls to hold his hand and then I saw 1 large tear stream from his eye. I don't think that this man has cried in a very long time and hope that I never have to witness it again. Not that it was bad, it is just that I know that is true pain.
He remained in great spirit the whole time- cutting up and making jokes about his wife's sister. He is very hard of hearing and lost both hearing aids in the wreck so I got close to him and asked if he was ok. He and I talked a little bit about what he remembered from the wreck (which is not much) and how they had to be flown in a helicopter to the hospital. I told him that is what I wanted to do in life... my goal. He acknowledged and said "I think you would be great at that." Now, this is a man who does not throw around compliments freely. It meant a great deal to me.
The wreck was terrible. They flipped the vehicle 3 times and the camper only flipped 1 time before breaking free from the truck. They had use the "jaws of life" to lift the top of the truck off them and then cut them out. The indentation of the headrest was on the the ceiling of his truck! He bought this truck about 6-9 month's ago and stated at that time that he may die in it, but it would be worth it. One of the things he said as he laid in the trauma unit is "that sure was a pretty truck".
He broke his back in 4 places- C5, C6, T5, T10. Broke 1 right rib, broke 4 left ribs, broke his hand, did some tendon damage that required surgery and a cast. He is one complete bruise on the right side of his face, both hearing aids were damaged badly- 1 shattered in his ear and had to be removed by doctors. He is so lucky to be alive! He lost consciousness during the wreck but never lost the ability to wiggle fingers and toes and is sharp as a tack!
He will wear a c-collar for 6-8 weeks and have a cast to his elbow for a while. He will not have to wear the torso brace as originally planned, they think all of that will heal on it's own. He will be fine after some tough physical therapy and good diabetes management. He does have a long road ahead but while be fine in the end.
The title of this blog is "goals in life become more apparent" for a reason. My husband and I had a conversation after the wreck that made me realize so many things. He said, "I already was thinking when we get home I wanted to check on them but had not made it that far". We left several hours after them and had mixed emotions about them driving all that way without us. We wanted to stay and see a few more things and they were ready to go home. This time we decided not to let one of our children go with them, since we were staying, and because they were getting on my husbands step mother's nerves. I am so great full for this decision! I do not believe in what-if's and tell my husband all the time that it does not help to think like that but this time I could not help myself and thank god that they were being their usual worrisome selves. When his dad was driving the car away from the campsite I could not help but think to myself how happy I was that we all were allowed this opportunity to spend this time with Michael's dad and his wife. I know sometimes we are to busy complaining about how things went previously that we forget to enjoy the moment. I am notorious for this and I am in need of some self improvement.
One of my new goals are to spend more time not complaining about the past and live in the moment. A smaller yet equally important goal is to get everyone's health information and ss#'s typed up and placed in a safe place. I already know this is something we should do, but keep putting it off until another day. This is very important and will help greatly in further circumstances! Do not wait to do this for your family! You never know when you are going to need this!!!! As always... I am working on my goals in improving my life as well as my families. thank you all for being so supportive and listening when we needed you! You know what they say, "Don't forget to hug your babies" but also don't forget to hug any of your family! Each day is a new day and be happy that you have each one to live!!!
I love you.
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