August 30, 2012
When I got home from work Monday, August 27, Hunter told me that Mamaw had a stroke & was at Shelby Baptist in Alabaster. Randy found her in her bedroom floor at 3:00 that afternoon & sat her up & noticed her face was drawn, so he & mom called 911. Turns out, she had a major stroke on the left side of her brain that caused hemiparalysis on the right side of her body. Monday night, Tuesday & Wednesday morning she was able to talk to us a little & tell us she loved us. By Wednesday night, she wasn't saying much so we would have to say, "Mamaw do you love me?" and she would nod her head yes. We all knew she loved us without having to ask her, but I feel like she felt better letting us know it everytime we left her. Before we left the hospital Wednesday night, we noticed she was sort of laboring to breathe. Her brain had started to swell & there was no more room in her skull for expansion. Dadene (her husband) was at UAB for 3 months before he died, on a ventilator, and miserable. That was 16 years ago & she always told us not to put her on one. So, we called the doctor on-call & he came to talk to us. We changed her code status from "full code," meaning if she starts to deteriorate, do everything possible to keep her alive, including IV vasopressors to keep her blood pressure up, chest compressions during CPR, a ventilator to keep her breathing, and so on, to "AND-I," which means 'Allow Natural Death with Interventions.' It's sort of like a check-off list & you pick what you do or do not want to be done. We chose to allow Mamaw a natural death, except for the IV vasopressors to keep her blood pressure up. She was on a good amount of Levophed & her blood pressure was only 72/50. She was on 100% oxygen, yet her oxygen saturation was only 91%. It was absolutely horrible to watch her lie there & gasp for air like she did but it was just as hard for me to separate myself from being a nurse & being a granddaughter. As a nurse, I knew she wouldn't get any better & that we were delaying the inevitable. She wasn't responding at all. But as a granddaughter, I was absolutely heartbroken because I wanted to hang on to her just a little bit longer. I was even bitter that God took her from us so close to my wedding day. One of her nurses came over & hugged me & said, "As a granddaughter, I know it's tough to watch this, but I also know it's a lot tougher as a nurse when you know exactly what's going on." I'll never forget that, she was so right. We decided to turn the blood pressure meds off & remove her oxygen mask. We each got to go in & say our goodbyes. I told her that we had a wedding in 5 weeks & that I knew she & Dadene would be there together on what would be their 59th anniversary. Uncle Mal, Uncle Charles & James stayed in the room with her as she passed away, they said she was peaceful, which made me feel a little more at ease. Mama's birthday was the next day, August 31, so we decided not to do Mamaw's viewing that night. We had her viewing Saturday night (before the Alabama game, of course) & her funeral Sunday. Shelene, Mama, Kristina, Bailee myself went to the funeral home & fixed Mamaw's hair. She looked like she was sleeping & kind of had a little smirk on her face. The service was perfect & I know she enjoyed it. Anywhere Mama, Shelene or myself went, Mamaw was with us. We were all so close...so close that some people even find it weird! I have tons of voicemails on my phone from her & I listen to them often. We can't thank you enough for the thoughts, prayers, visits, food, texts & whatever else you might have done for us during the most difficult time we've had in a very long time. The picture below was our last picture together. August 25th at one of my wedding showers.
Since Mamaw passed away, we had to retype the wedding programs. It was heartbreaking to move her name from under 'Grandmothers of the Bride,' to 'In Loving Memory of.' I still don't understand why she couldn't have stayed on this earth for 5 more weeks, but it doesn't matter if I understand it or not. I never asked for God to keep her here, I asked that His will would be done & that our hearts would be content with it.
September 6, 2012-September 9, 2012
September 11, 2012
I was at work & Hunter called & told me that Amanda was carrying Collins to her room & she tripped & they both hit the floor. As a nurse, of course millions of scenerios went through my head as to what could have happened, what could be wrong with Collins, and tests that I thought needed to be done. Why do I always do that???? I asked Hunter a million questions but he didn't know any of the answers...that's a man for ya! I'm kidding :) But seriously, he told me "Amanda tripped over the door." That could have made sense if she had to walk through a door on the way from the kitchen to Collins' room, but she didn't! When I FINALLY got the full story, I learned that Amanda tripped over the dishwasher door. Turns out, Collins had a small skull fracture & they kept her at Children's for a night to watch her. She's as good as new & still the most precious baby in the world!
September 22, 2012
After work on Friday, September 21st, I went to Maplesville & Hunter went to Troy. I had LOTS of wedding stuff to get done & he had to go to the hunting land for a 'work day.' Since I'm a member, I was supposed to be at the work day but Hunter's Mama told him I was excused :) Saturday morning, Meradith came to Maplesville to help with wedding stuff & Ashley was in town to practice on my hair & make-up for my bridal portraits the next day. At 12:03 my phone rang & it was Hunter's dad. I answered the phone with a happy 'War Eagle!!!!!!,' since he's one of those 'Bammers.' He told me that Hunter had an accident, that he fell out of a tree, and that the ambulance was on the way. It kind of felt like the floor moved out from under me. I flipped out, for lack of a better word, and Meradith took the phone. He called back a few minutes later & asked if I wanted to hear Hunter's voice. Hunter got on the phone & said, 'I just busted my lip.' I was calm until Bruce called back 2 minutes later & said life flight was on the way to air lift him to Baptist South. CLEARLY Hunter hadn't just busted his lip!!!! That phone call sent me into crazy girl mode!!! I was a WRECK!!!! Mom drove me to Montgomery & Shelene was in the back seat. Of course I hadn't showered, my hair was greasy, I had on my mom's shoes that didn't fit, pajama shorts & a huge t-shirt with stains all over it...I wasn't a pretty sight! Thankfully, Meradith thought to call Meagan Railey, one of our pledge sisters in Alpha Gam, that works in the ER at South. Meagan was working that day & Meradith told her the situation. She ended up not being Hunter's nurse, but she did take care of him ALL DAY. When I got to the trauma room, Hunter looked AWFUL. He was still on the hard stretcher board, had a neck brace on, had blood ALL OVER his face & had a white sheet pulled up to his neck with his arms tucked inside. I got very upset when I saw him & I think it's because it reminded me so much of the way Mamaw looked at the hospital after she passed (lying flat with the white sheet pulled up to her neck). I ran over to him, kissed him on the forehead & told him I loved him. A tear rolled down his cheek & he said he loved me, too. That absolutley BROKE. MY. HEART. Even though I felt a million times better after I had seen him with my own eyes & knew he was going to be ok, when Bruce told me that Hunter hit the ground on his chest, rolled over & said, 'Oh, God,' his eyes rolled back & he quit breathing, I wanted to throw up. Miraculously, his full body CT scan was clear & his chest x-ray was clear. He came out of the whole thing with busted lips & stitches and a broken nose. Here's the story in his words...
We were having a club work day and had pretty much accomplished all we really needed to get done for the day. For some reason I had everyone go with my dad and I (we normally do all the club stands by ourselves). We get to the spot where we wanted to put it up and I put my climbing belt on, pick out a tree and put the climbing sticks up. Then I pull the stand up, hook it to a ratchet strap to take the weight off of it and proceed to strap it in, get it level. The tree was too big for the chain that goes on it, but we had two ratchet straps (one on top and one on bottom). Its snug, I shake the crap out of it to see if there is any wiggle. No wiggle at all. I unhook climbing belt to get up on the stand. I was going to rehook safety harness when i got in the stand and do the jumping to settle the stand in place and make any neccessary adjustments but i didn't make it in the stand...as I was standing on the edge of it, the stand gave away and down i went. I tried to grab the climbing sticks but the next thing i remember i am on the ground coughing up blood and having difficulty breathing. I think I remember hitting a limb with my face on the way down and I landed face and chest first. My chest landed on two logs. They loaded me up on the ranger and hauled me to the highway where the ambulance was waiting, they did there assessment and decided i needed to be life flighted to Montgomery to the hospital. After it was all said and done I had a broken nose and split my top lip up to my nose (5 stiches) and a hole in my bottom lip (3 stiches). God definitely has a plan for me and was looking out for me and I am so thankful I have him on my side! The top ratchet strap broke causing the stand to give way and me as well! It was negligence on our part for leaving the stand in the weather all year, but it wasn't too different than what we always have done. Needless to say we will change that and will be investing in some lifeline systems so that we are hooked in at all times.
September 26, 2012
As if I wasn't stressed out enough, Mom called & told me our after rehearsal venue had shut their doors, taken our deposit money and won't answer our calls. TWO WEEKS before the wedding. SERIOUSLY??? I thought I needed to breathe into a paper bag for a minute or two. We were having it at Gypsy Sally's in Clanton & the after rehearsal dinner invitations had already been sent. My day was ruined, I was ill, and I wanted to disappear. As I was whining & complaining, wondering if every bride's wedding planning adventure was this much of a nightmare, Mom brought me back to reality & reminded me that I almost didn't have a groom. She was right. In the big picture, our after rehearsal dinner plans don't even hold a candle to how important Hunter is & what he means to me. So, Amanda, Hunter's sister, called & booked another restaurant within 45 minutes of me telling her what had happened. It's a little small, but we'll make do!We are 12 days away from our wedding day!! The year has FLOWN by & so much has happened. We hope to see some of you at the wedding & we can't wait to spend 5 days in Jamaica...although we're a little nervous about leaving the country with this awful luck we've had lately!!!
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. -Romans 8:28
