What a weekend!

Most of you already know what happened last weekend, but I'll give you the rundown....



So, our Friday evening started out great. We ate dinner and then decided to go get ice cream and take it to the park. (I had to stop and pee on the way...ha!) So, we got to the park and played awhile and then it was time to go home. Abby got her bath and we finally got her to bed. I was exhausted and Brian told me to just go on to bed. He was going to stay up for awhile. So, off to bed I went and into a sound sleep. As a habit, we keep our ringer off on the phone in our bedroom for several reasons, unless it's like when my Dad was in the hospital, etc.



So, around midnight, I was awakened by something. (I wasn't sure what) The phone sits on my side of the bed and even though it doesn't ring, it lights up. Well, when I saw it lit up and saw my parents' number on the caller ID and then saw the time, I grabbed up the phone, but it had already gone to voicemail. Then I hear my brother Jeff call my name, so I jumped out of bed and open my bedroom door to find both my brothers standing there. Immediately my heart starts pounding b/c I'm sure something has happened to my Dad and they're here to tell me in person. Well, then they say that Brian's at the hospital and I need to get dressed. What???? Brian? Isn't he home? I was so confused! They briefly said he had run up to Walgreens and had a seizure and was taken by ambulence to the hospital. So, my mind is spinning at this point, but I'm throwing on clothes, not even stopping to brush my hair, and out the door we went. Jeff stayed with Abby and Chad drove me. The whole way to the hospital I was shaking so bad and just couldn't talk much. I asked a couple of questions to get a better handle on what happened, but that's it. Apparently the hospital had tried to call me when Brian was brought in, but I didn't hear the phone (obviously) so they called my in-laws, who called my parents. My Mom kept trying to call me while my brothers drove to our house and used the spare key my parents have to get in. So, we get to the hospital and pull up right behind my in-laws. My MIL and I flew in there to the desk and I told them who I was. The nurse at the desk was so nice and calm. She said that Brian was extremely concerned about me (which was why she was probably talking so calmly) and that he was okay. She said it was a good sign that all he kept saying in the ambulence was that they needed to call me and he kept reciting our phone number, so that was a good sign. She said he was getting a cat scan done and she'd call me as soon as he was done. She wanted to warn me that he was pretty messed up from falling. She said his face was very bloody, but he was okay. She filled us in that there was a nurse in Walgreens at the time who witnessed everything and was able to act quickly. Brian was standing in line talking to someone in front of him (he remembers this) and all of a sudden he apparently started talking gibberish and just fell forward flat on his face (hence all the blood) and then went into a seizure. I'm so glad they all acted quickly.



So, we waited just about 5 or 10 minutes and she told me he was being brought back, so Brian's Mom and I went back to see him. The nurse told me he didn't want me to see him with all of the blood on his face, so she cleaned him up as best she could. When I saw him, I was so relieved to see him awake and alive! He did look banged up, but not as bad as I expected. I thought for sure his nose would be broken, but we figured out later he must have turned his head b/c only one side of his face was hurt. He busted his lip, so had to get stitches for that and he has a black eye and some sore ribs. So, we waited in there with him for awhile....that's all you do in hospitals, isn't it? They finally came back in around 2am and said his cat scan and blood work came back normal, but they were going to keep him overnight for more tests to find out the cause of the seizure. His parents went home around 2:30am since his Mom had to work the next day and I stayed. Chad stayed with me. God love him, he stayed out in the waiting room all night with me while Jeff stayed at our house with Abby. I have 2 wonderful brothers! So, after awhile, Brian fell asleep and I just sat with him while he rested. Well, the nurse came in to check his blood pressure and went to wake him up. Brian wouldn't wake up. It took him a good 2 minutes to wake him up. The nurse (whose name was Chase, by the way and he was so nice!) was concerned, but Brian's BP and everything looked fine, so he left him alone. Awhile later, he came back to do the same thing and again Brian wouldn't wake up. He was also sweating and believe me, it was cold in there!!! Chase started to get concerned and told me to watch him and if he started sweating again to let him know. This whole time, Brian would just fall right back asleep after they'd wake him up. It was crazy. So, I kept checking him and sure enough, beads of sweat started to form on his head again, so I got Chase. He had to wake him up again, which took a bit longer this time. He told me he let the doctor know what was going on. So, after a bit, he came back in and ran an EKG to check Brian's heart, which I guess came back okay. By this time, it's after 4 and supposedly they're going to put him in a room any minute. So, we're waiting and waiting! Finally Chase comes back in around 4:45 or so and I ask him when they're moving Brian and he said that when they let the neurologist know about Brian not being able to wake up, he changed his mind and wanted him put in the ICU for closer observation. So, he said it would be another hour since they changed the orders. Arrgghh! Well, at this point, Brian didn't even know I was there b/c he was sleeping constantly and I was thinking that Abby would be up at 7 or 7:30 and I needed at least SOME sleep, so I got Chad and we headed home. Chase said he would call me if anything changed. We got home around 5:15. We had to run by Walgreens and pick up Brian's car. This was when it was pouring and we were having that storm. Lovely! So, I got home and my brothers left and I headed to bed. Well, with everything that had happened, it took me awhile to go to sleep. I got about 45 minutes before Abby woke up. I tried to get her to lay down with me, but that didn't work.

I ended up back at the hospital around 10:30. I had to wait for someone at my parents house to get up to watch Abby. Everyone had been up so late with what happened. My Dad was up, but he couldn't watch her on his own, so around 9:30 or so, Chad called and said he was up and I could bring her over. Brian slept almost his whole time in the ICU, except to wake up and eat. I went home during the "rest period" the ICU has and Abby and I took naps. Abby was back at my parents and I was back at the hospital by around 5:30 and stayed until visiting hours were over. I really dreaded going home. I knew I would be so lonely without Brian there. Abby and I got home and I let her stay up later to keep me company. Nice, huh? lol. She had gotten a second wind anyway, so I knew she was going to be hard to get down. She was in bed by 11 and I went to bed shortly thereafter. I woke up a lot. I'm just an uneasy sleeper when Brian's gone.

Abby had me up early AGAIN on Sunday! I got a few things done around the house and got my shower and headed out to drop Abby off at my parents again. I was actually able to wake Brian up when I got there, which wasn't easy before. They had kept him in the ICU again since he was still sleeping so much. Shortly after I got there, they took him back for his MRI. I stayed in his room and read a book. His nurse came in after about an hour and said that he was delayed. Brian refused to go in the room, so they had to give him an Adivan (sp?). He's had several MRIs before, but they're always at Sycamore b/c their machine is newer and bigger, so Kettering's freaked him out pretty bad. After another hour, he finally returned. I stayed with him while he ate his lunch and then headed back home during the rest period. Abby took a nap and I cleaned some. I got the floors mopped and vacuumed the kitchen (not in that order). They had told Brian if his MRI came back normal, they would most likely release him, so we were hoping! He called me on my way back to the hospital and said he was being released. Woohoo! Good thing I already had clothes for him in the car....just in case! So, he got discharged pretty quickly. They said that one of the pain meds he was on (he hasn't been on it long) can cause your seizure threshold to lower, thus making it easier to have one. So, they told him to go off of that...obviously....but he could go back on his other meds. He can't drive for 3 months, which is the biggest problem. Arrgghh! We'll manage, though. The important thing is that he's alive! So, that was my weekend in a nutshell. It was really the longest and shortest weekend of my life.

On a side note, Friday evening after we had gotten back from the park, Brian was playing with Abby and he all of a sudden stopped and looked at me and told me he loved me. I laughingly said thanks and he said, no he meant it. Well, the whole time he was in the hospital that moment came back to me and I couldn't help but wonder if that was God allowing Brian to say goodbye to me, you know? I told him that yesterday and he said the funny thing was that after he said it, he just felt like something was going to happen to him and he wanted to make sure I knew that. Strange!

Well, I hope you all are well! This is probably one of my longest blogs! lol. Have a good week!