I’ve been posting but hiding them

The past year has been really difficult. We are closely approaching the anniversary date of a devastating event which occurred last April.

I’m not completely sure I’m totally ready to come out of hiding.

Here we go…

April 10, 2015 I only wanted to fulfill a late pregnancy craving of Wendy’s chocolate Frosty and Small fries. Late after putting kids to bed, one my eldest and  decided to take a ride to Wendy’s. An illegal drunk driver sped up really fast through his red light and hit my van so hard, he made us do 360 degree plus clockwise rotation!

He totalled both my van and his and injured both of our passengers. I got the worst of the impact so I had the worst injuries.

My car was smoking. I couldn’t move. I didn’t know my body was broken but I immediately felt intense pain and pressure. Someone removed me from the van and told me don’t move.  I was terrified, I couldn’t move and I couldn’t feel my baby. I was 36 weeks pregnant with baby Anneliese.

I have no concept of time after the accident. I remember everything immediately leading up to it. Like conversation, my light turning green, the car stopped at the light and watching the car that eventually hit me, go around stopped cars. It seemed to play out in slow motion in my head but actually occurred in milliseconds.

The medic started an IV on me and gave me oxygen. My oxygen levels were low. She couldn’t feel the baby moving or find her heartbeat either. I was immediately put in trauma ER at the hospital. I couldn’t breathe. They did several MRI’s. I find out my neck, ribs and back are broken and my liver bruised? My broken ribs punctured my lungs, I had to be stabilized. I was in and out of xrays and MRIs for a while. I had a great PA who did not leave my side till I was stabile. Then he brought my husband to me. I was only allowed one visitor at a time. Shortly thereafter I was briefly “discharged” to the maternity observation. It took over an hour for everyone to try and locate the baby. Maternal Fetal Medicine Doctor was called. He came in and did an ultrasound. Hallelujah the baby is alive!!!  She wasn’t moving and appeared to be in shock, but she was alive. After being shuffled around in the hospital, I was eventually readmitted to the maternity high risk floor. Trauma didn’t want to keep me because I was pregnant. Maternity didn’t want me because I was also a trauma patient.  So for my 2 week hospital stay, I had a bucket load of doctors visiting me daily for various reasons.

By day 3, some swelling had abated and I was able to move my hands and toes. PT started getting me up to my feet by a week or so after the accident. I was determined to walk, even though I lacked feeling in all of my extremities.

Once I was discharged from the hospital, I had PT in my home. My doctors wanted to put me in a rehab facility, but NO ONE would take a pregnant patient.

After I delivered Anneliese, all my doctor’s wanted me to take a break to heal after delivery. So I started PT again  after she turned 14 weeks old, and after my neck fractures and other bones had healed.

Over the past year I’ve relearned how to live and adjusted to life with the current abilities I do have.  I can walk fully without assistance of any sort.

I have bad herniations in my spine from the accident. I’m having surgery in the very near future to prevent full paralysis. My herniations are squishing my spinal cord in the C4-C6 region. Hopefully I will regain feeling in my hands and the terrible pain I live with will either go away or at least ease up!