2018 started off with a slight disappointment. Wes bought be a trip to Boston for my Christmas/Birthday present and our plan was to be there on my birthday, Jan. 6. Lo and behold, what they called a "Winter Hurricane" basically was forecast for the time we were to arrive. Not only temperatures below zero, but fierce winds that could knock out power, and flooding. We were able to postpone our flights and cancel our hotel without charge!! And, it wound up working out because we rescheduled for April and would now be able to go to a Red Sox game!! Since we had already made plans to be out of town and had made arrangements for the grandmas to watch the boys, Wes took me to downtown Dallas and we spent a couple of days down there, exploring and getting away! It was fun and neat to think we were just down the street basically!
We shopped downtown McKinney first!
Got my free birthday cupcake!
Checked out Legacy Hall in Plano
Our hotel downtown
Went to our first Dallas Mavericks game!
Meanwhile in Boston!!!!
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Malachi drew this. SOMEtimes, his sweet side shows through! :)
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In the early morning hours of Jan. 18 (about 4 AM, I believe), Wes' phone rang and I somewhat was awakened. I vaguely heard my mom on the other end saying, "Wesley, it's Mark. We're at the hospital and we think he had a stroke." I was pretty out of it still, so I absent-mindingly got up and started getting dressed. I had lots of questions but knew that we just had to get in the car. I was concerned about the possibility of ice on the roads and that added to my worry. But I just had to get to my parents. I got a bag ready for the hospital and I willed myself not to get a dress for a funeral- "I'm not going to need that," I willed myself to thinking. But, I knew it didn't sound good at all. Mom had started calling me at about midnight or so and I had missed it - still feel really bad about that. She had called Lindsey during the night, too but they had missed the call also. Josh got the news also about 4AM. I knew I had to call Lindsey - one of the unfortunately many conversations that we've had where we don't say much because we don't know what to say. They were headed to the hospital and I was thankful that they were so close. The drive to Tyler was long, but yet went by relatively fast. Thankful to God that the roads were dry!
The rest of the day is pretty much a blur! Mom told us that about midnight, he had walked into the house from being in his office in the back, yelling that his head hurt! Really really hurt! He got sick and almost passed out/or did. Mom immediately called the ambulance and they got to their house quickly. They even thought about life-flying him! Dad kept telling my mom that he didn't think he would make it through this. Mom had to drive her car all the way to Tyler and had been waiting in the ER since then. Anyway, we waited all day for them to scan dad's brain - which didn't happen until that evening. Dad's brother and his wife, my cousin, Josh's parents, a preacher, and even one of our elders from Plano! came to visit that day. We finally received the news from the scan that the bleeding on the brain had stopped and that it had NOT been a stroke. We were comforted by that, but still had no idea what was in store. They moved dad to ICU, where we thought he might be for 3 days at the most. We still had so many questions, but knew that these first 24 hours were critical.
So, anyway, this ICU visit turned into 2 or 3 weeks! Controlling his blood pressure was a problem whenever they tried to wean him off the sedation. His breathing tube had to stay in for longer than we would've liked because he had pneumonia or something like that. He had to be put on a feeding tube. He would however, follow commands whenever he was on a "sedation vacation" - and THAT kept us going. Throughout this time, we had so many visitors - Dad's parents, another brother of his, Wes' parents, some of my parents' friends from Midland, two MORE elders from Plano, several of Lindsey's friends, and friends from my parents' church in Mineola. We received so many texts and phone calls and comments - helped SO, SO much! Wes and the boys even got gift cards for supper from different people from church, since I wasn't home to cook. While I was there, I spent most of the day in the waiting room - I just couldn't bear to be in the room with dad for very long. (Never have I seen so many episodes of Judge Judy in my life!) But, I still wanted to be there. Every time, and I mean EVERY time an alert would sound through the hospital, I would dread hearing them say the room number. We called the nurse's station almost every night before we went to bed. We probably annoyed the nurses SO MUCH, but I had questions and I wasn't afraid to ask them! :) They truly were wonderful! Truly. We were able to stay at Lindsey and Josh's - that truly was an amazing gift! Wes and the boys would come some and we'd stay at a motel so we could spread out a little more. I came home twice I think during this time - I had to be with my family and take care of my responsibilities at home, too. Wes did SO much - taking care of the house, the boys, his job, and me! I would send dad's family updates as best as I could. The nurses kept telling us, "It just takes time. He's not going backwards. But he's very sick."
In that first week, whenever dad would be awake for a little bit, he remembered us and his grandkids and he even remembered having that headache! The nurse kept telling him, "Don't worry, everything still works." Which I'm sure was a great relief for dad to hear!! Poor Malachi wanted to go back and see his Pawpaw so bad - I'm so thankful that he didn't have to see him like that, though. But Malachi was worried. Whenever they started weaning dad off the sedation medicine, he was very restless and very confused. It was not a fun time! It was very tense and very stressful. We were hoping and praying that it was just the medicine and situation that was making dad act that way, and that it wasn't our new normal! (Come to find out, it was just the medicine talking!!)
The grandkids decorated his room!
One of the first things dad said when he was coherent was, "I have a beautiful wife!" Then, Feb 1 came! Two weeks after this started, dad stood up with a walker!!!!!! What a blessed day! He remembered so many things about the past - like when they lived in Midland, etc. He knew everything! What a huge blessing!!!!!!! So amazing!!
On Feb. 9, he moved into in-patient rehab!!! This was after a scare - Wes was coming home from Freed that day and mom had called me and said that they were probably going to do brain surgery on dad. After he had done so much recovering!!! NO!!!! That was a long hour or two, while I waited for Wes to get off the plane so that I could talk to him, so that he could help me, and so that we could head to Tyler. As soon as Wes got home, we headed back to Tyler, so scared and so disappointed! Anyway, by the time we got to Tyler, the doctor had said "Well, maybe not," and then by the time we got to his hospital room, the brain surgeon said, "You know what, let's wait! I wouldn't want to do the surgery if it were me. I bet this blood that accumulated is old and will go away on its own!" Wow!! We went from having brain surgery to going to rehab!!! God is good.
Another day to add to this that was special was on Feb. 11. He texted all of us girls!! My dad. Texted us. :)
On Feb. 27, dad was released from the hospital!!! We were there with balloons!!
Y'all, this was tough. I was pretty sure this was it. Tough to be in this situation for so long. For it to be in Tyler and me away from my home. For it to be my dad and my mom. We all truly believe that it was the prayers of everyone that helped - helped give us strength and comfort and helped heal my dad. SO many people were praying for him. So many. People today, still ask how he's doing. This was a God thing. Even the doctors acknowledge it. It's getting better now, but for the first few times I saw dad at our house or at their house or wherever, it took my breath away. Surreal. Can't believe it. He's not 100% - he's still stiff and doesn't have full motion yet - but my goodness, it's just so amazing! Amazing that he didn't have any brain damage!!! Wow!!! Wow. We guess that this happened because of high blood pressure and that caused an aneurysm of some sorts. It makes me anxious to write about all of this - it was just an awful time, but also, in a weird way, a beautiful time. Our entire family was there and helped each other out. To feel the presence of God. To know that so many people were praying. To witness my mom beside her husband every single day. I just hope I never get to the point where I forget to thank God for healing my dad and for being with us.
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During this time, Malachi went on his first over-night-church-trip-without-a-parent! He went to a little weekend camp. That was hard, not being there to see him off, but I was thankful to Wes and to a friend that helped take him and get him ready. Malachi had a great time!
