The Gift

Just after dusk and darkness fast approaching we gathered on the curb of the most dreadful place of my life. At the front door of the Dallas hospital I stood trying to cope with the tragic event of the day. My only son unresponsive laid at death's door beyond this parking lot. Our friends were trying to console us and comfort our greatest fears but their voices fell upon my ears as one of many flowing through my mind. Just as we had decided it was time to depart my husband started walking quickly toward our suburban. We had parked it in valet parking right in front of the hospital. Becoming frustrated with his urgency to leave I called out to him. He continued his pace as though he was ignoring me calling to him. Suddenly I saw the tail lights of our vehicle light up. I did a complete 360 in my mind in warpspeed realizing he was still approaching our vehicle. Commonsense tries to understand how this could be and I soon grasped the idea our truck was being stolen! Oh yes stolen right in front of the hospital on a night that I thought couldn't be worst until now! The thief backed out quickly and my husband grabbed the side mirror jumping on the running board and off they went at a high speed out of the parking lot! My heart turned to butter and my thoughts were a spiderweb yet I knew I must do something! I took off running screaming "call the police, call an ambulance" as I ran past the cars in the intersection putting my hand on their hood as I ran by. In my mind trauma, stress, and tragedy were very real words at this moment. I knew not only was my son in trouble tonight so was my husband. All I could do was pray and run begging for a good outcome. As the thief approached the third intersection that turned toward the interstate he slowed down giving my husband time to jump off. Our vehicle that had just been completely repaired of every little problem was now stolen and headed down the interstate. We were now left without transportation to and from the hospital which was about 45 miles from home.

Although this may sound unreal I am in the process of telling a true story of our life.The first part is The Gift Beyond All Dreams and I will continue to build as I write. I hope you will follow as the story takes many twists and turns and will keep you wondering what is next as we journey through our life.

My husband was fine and a little shaken but nevertheless the outcome was good considering what it could have been. Our friends loaned us their car that night and we travelled home to make arrangements for the little ones. This was going to be a long journey as you will see and we needed to get things in some sort of order. With a shattered heart and mind we headed home trying to piece together all that had happened in a day. The thief had come to steal my son and our means of transportation. We were distraught at the idea that in a moment everything can change and your whole life can be altered. Reeling from the days event we reached home wondering how we would tell his children of the terrible accident that had occurred. Upon our arrival life seemed normal on the homefront. The laughter of his girls filled the air and quiet frankly was a refreshing moment as we embraced them both. Just to look into those beautiful brown eyes of his little ones made our hearts beat again and focus on our mission. We must find the words to explain what had happened and why their daddy wasn't with us. The girl's were preoccupied with coloring as I remember and our mission was easier than we imagined. We simple told them he had gotten hurt on his way to work and the doctor's were taking care of him. As I uttered the words "but he will be fine"my mind filled with every vision of doubt. I knew at this moment I must find the strength to believe beyond all barriers. As I looked into those babies eyes I knew we have to believe! After our shallow explanation we went next door to gather the things we needed. We had a direct line to the ICU should there be any change in his condition.

As I sat in my son's chair just trying to make some sense of this with tears streaming down my face I in a whisper muttered "why.. why has this happened?" It was then I heard my son's voice. He said "Mom please stop crying I will be ok." "I know you don't understand but it had to be this way. Tell my wife to clean the house pay the bills and take care of my girls. Oh also tell dad to take care of my truck I'll be around. I have to go now mom I love you". As I sat there in the darkness and thought about what had just happened I realized that God had allowed me to be comforted by my own son's voice. As strange as this may seem it was exactly what I needed to be able to continue on. I knew my son had promised me he would be back. From that night forward the battle begin for his life and I had become his greatest warrior!

Early the next morning we secured the girls and headed to the hospital still driving our friend's car. Upon our arrival little had changed and his condition was still very critical. We had to finish making the report on our stolen vehicle and work out how we were going to manage the long haul at the hospital. We were blessed with family and friends who refused to leave our side and were willing to do anything needed to help. We were so taken care of by these guardian angels that we were absolutely in need of nothing except his wellbeing! From this time on there was always someone standing bedside every minute of the day and night. Minute after minute we watched the clock tick away the hours waiting for a moment to grab of hope. There wasn't a twitch of his toe or finger that gave any indication of life yet we waited. There were episodes where we we escorted out of the room because he would start having medical issues! His ICPs were going out of the roof. There isn't a roller coaster in the world that could hold a candle to the ups and downs of this journey! Each moment the stress level was beyond measure as we gasped for breath for one more mountain. The mountains became higher each time and much more rugged than the previous. As we tried to hold on with each decline we knew it could be the last but prayed it wouldn't. As we reached a peak of hope the doctor would inform us we had another mountain to climb. Soon another surgery was urgent and a deeper breath was needed as we continued on. Within a few day span there had been multiple surgeries on his brain and skull. We were told to not panic because his head would look different. Once the swelling went down his head would be indented! After the surgery still not fully understanding just what they meant it looked no different. Later we were told the ICP monitor was in the wrong place from the beginning! His pressure in his head was much greater than they had first thought. I knew my son was in the hands of someone greater than the doctors or myself at this point. During this time there was also an issue with his blood pressure going extremely high. Well in light of the pressure in his head I now understand why! The doctors said they couldn't figure out the reason and could do nothing more to control it. That night after total exhaustion I fell asleep. I had a dream. In this dream I heard it is a pressure test! "What" I questioned after waking the next morning. When the doctors arrived and started making there rounds they came to my son's room. They again stated the issue with his blood pressure. Before I realized what I said I blurted out "It's a pressure test". With four of them standing together they looked at me like I was crazy! One said "excuse me"? and I repeated the statement. By this time the other three had their charts in hand. I again said "look I had a dream and was told it was a pressure test. I understand this is not medical information by the book but perhaps just information to consider. Maybe it could help someone. Maybe my son." They all grinned and said perhaps and walked away. It wasn't long and they came to my son's room. The monitor reading his bp was at normal again. They checked it manually and it had lowered to normal and has never been up since then. This is when they had discovered the ICP readings were wrong.