Wednesday, June 30, 2010

May Madness!

Yes, I know we are almost to July, but as the title of this blog implies...we had a crazy May and took the month of June to recover from it! We knew it was going to be a very busy month, beginning with Tyler's graduation and 25th birthday.

(Us with the Kenyon's at graduations...we are so proud of Tyler!)
(Tyler and his yummy cake at his party)
we also had my sister, Jordan's, high school graduation (she is modeling the towel wrap I got her for college),
we were anticipating the arrival of our nephew Jude, and we were looking forward to celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary (man, does time fly)!

Little did we know, things were about to get crazy! A week after Tyler's birthday, I went into to have a test done at the hospital and Tyler came with me. He was standing there with me, when all of the sudden he falls on me and then just flips backwards onto the floor. I had no idea what was going on, but assumed he must have passed out. He has passed out before, because of medical stuff going on, so I wasn't too worried...yet. In about two minutes we had about 10 people in the room with us, bringing in back/neck braces and a stretcher. That is when I started to freak out, plus the fact that Tyler wasn't really responding and my nurse was whispering something to my mom, who thankfully was in the waiting room since she works next door to the hospital, causing her to have a concerned look on her face. That is when I realized that blood wasn't just coming from the cut on the back of his head, it was also coming from his ear. Initially they were worried that it could be due to bleeding from the brain. They finished up my test...everything with me was okay, but now Tyler was being wheeled to the ER, which thankfully was just around the corner. Looking back, we are so thankful that we were in the best place possible for him to be in at that time. By the time I got to the ER, he was in a lot of pain and had begun throwing up from the pain. They took him to get a CT scan and I began my series of panicking. I was thinking of every possible scenario and assuming the worst (as I usually do...I have to work on that), when they sent in the Chaplain, which sent me into extreme panic mode, because I could only assume he was there to comfort me because it was really bad news. Assuming is the worst thing I could do. He really was such a nice guy and was once roommates with our directional leader and my boss at Fellowship. He even made me laugh a few times during the craziness of waiting for the results. When they finally brought Tyler back and the ER doctor came to talk to us, my dad and mom, and Tyler's mom were there to support and encourage us...I am so thankful they were there to be levelheaded while I freaked out. The doctor came in saying there was good news and bad news. The bad news was that he did have a skull fracture (yes I began my freak out again), but the good news was that there wasn't any bleeding on the brain at that point. They were going to monitor him for a little while longer, but then they would let him go home. When we got ready to go home, Tyler couldn't even sit up without getting dizzy or passing out, so they decided to admit him, much to my relief. I was terrified at that point to take him home and be responsible for watching for any signs of internal bleeding. The first night was rough and I was very anxious, so my sister came and stayed the night with us. Thank you Jordan! Tyler still couldn't sit up without getting dizzy and passing out, due to the ruptured eardrum he also suffered with the fall, and I just kept thinking he was going to try and get up (he sleepwalks) and pass out and hit his head again, which would not be good. The next morning he had another CT scan and they found a little bleeding on the brain, so they kept us another night. Thankfully, on day three they did one more CT scan and didn't find any bleeding, so we were cleared to go home. By the time we got home, most of Tyler's dizziness had gone down, but I still had to walk him everywhere for about 5 more days. We are so thankful for our family and wonderful friends (especially Justin, who came every day to check on us at the hospital and sat with Tyler so I could go to my sister's graduation, his wife Sarah, who always made sure I was well fed and encouraged, Scott and Rachel who also brought us meal after meal and constantly prayed for and encouraged us, Jeremy and Abby who helped us get Tyler home from the hospital and fed us that night and who we were ironically in the hospital with at this time last year when he busted his knee open at Tyler's bday party--i hope this doesn't become his birthday trend!, and many many more friends and family who did so much to help out.) We are so very blessed and we will never forget the love, encouragement, and peace we felt from the prayers and love from our friends and family. I am an anxious person by nature, and after the initial shock and anxiety of everything, I experienced so much hope and peace that I know only comes from God alone and the prayers that our friends/family/church sent up to Him for us. I was definitely reminded not to take Tyler or our marriage for granted! We learned a lot about not relying on ourselves and our timelines/plans for our life. We were going in for one test and never expected to come out of it with Tyler having a skull fracture, a ruptured eardrum, and staples in his head, and spending three very long days in the hospital. So, as that wasn't enough...fun?....the day we were released from the hospital, our sister-in-law (Tyler's brother's wife), went into labor. Jude Timothy was born on May 20th! He is the cutest, and we were able to go down and see him (with Tyler in a wheelchair :)) the night after we got out of the hospital

(Baby Jude)

(Jenna, Jude, and Josh)

(Aunt Jess and Uncle Tyler with Baby Jude)
(Uncle Tyler and Jude...notice the cotton ball in his ear, cut on his head, and hospital bracelet he is still wearing...we literally hadn't been home from our hospital visit for 24 hours yet)

(Grandma and Baby J on Memorial Day)
We finished off May with a new nephew, Tyler's healing going well (except that he can't stand not playing sports-no pickleball or biking for a month, no basketball for 3 months, and no football/ultimate frisbee for 3 months according to our neurosurgeon and ear doctor), by celebrating our 3rd anniversary, going to family camp with our church families, and spending Memorial Day with both of our families with a fish fry and pickleball out at my dad's house. We are blessed!
All I have to say is....WHAT A CRAZY MAY!