I have been putting off documenting this because I was in too fragile a state of mind to do so. Even now, 6 months later, my heart is racing as I begin to type. The story below is my sister-in-law, Alicia's account, which I am sure will be more thorough than mine, because honestly It still hurts my heart. So here goes...
Rick had a work trip in Florida and wanted me to go with him, I have never been to Florida so I said, "Yes."
We are pretty frequent vacationers so you would think that I enjoy it, but my idea of a vacation is staying in bed and watching a lot of t.v. and movies. I hate leaving my kids alone and I really hate having someone else watch them, so vacationing is a little bitter sweet for me. Rick however does not mind leaving them or care who he leaves them with, he can totally forget about them for days. :)
Alicia is always so good to just up and volunteer the second I say we are going somewhere or doing something. So of course she volunteered this time around as well.
I was worried that with back to school night occurring on the same day we left that she would be busy and Russell didn't have school that day but Jade did so I figured that he could certainly handle watching T.K. for one day. I thought better of it like 20 times, but decided that I wanted to make things easier for Alicia.
I talked to Russell before we left and these were my exact words, "Russell, I just know that you are going to sit down, play X-box, and totally forget about T.K. and he's either going to go outside and get hit by a car or go upstairs and fall out the window." I even hid the X-box controllers but then he informed me that he had a competition, that could potentially win him a million dollars :) the next day and it would only last half an hour so that is all he would use it for, so, reluctantly, I took them out of hiding.
Well that is exactly what happened. Russell was busy playing X-box and my baby went upstairs and fell out a window, (nobody knew this until we got home).
I was worried that with back to school night occurring on the same day we left that she would be busy and Russell didn't have school that day but Jade did so I figured that he could certainly handle watching T.K. for one day. I thought better of it like 20 times, but decided that I wanted to make things easier for Alicia.
I talked to Russell before we left and these were my exact words, "Russell, I just know that you are going to sit down, play X-box, and totally forget about T.K. and he's either going to go outside and get hit by a car or go upstairs and fall out the window." I even hid the X-box controllers but then he informed me that he had a competition, that could potentially win him a million dollars :) the next day and it would only last half an hour so that is all he would use it for, so, reluctantly, I took them out of hiding.
Well that is exactly what happened. Russell was busy playing X-box and my baby went upstairs and fell out a window, (nobody knew this until we got home).
When Matt called us that night and told us his symptoms, we told him we wanted him to go to the ER. It wasn't until about 3:30 in the morning that Matt heard from the doctors and that we heard back from Matt. He told us that he had a severe concussion and a fractured skull. He said it sounded worse than it actually was and that they wanted him to spend the night but more for precaution, and that they would let him go home in the morning.
I wanted to come home. Matt told me it wasn't necessary, that he was going to be fine and to try and enjoy myself. That proved to be completely impossible. I put off making arrangements to leave until the morning. After talking the next day to Matt he said that they wanted to keep him another night because they wanted to make sure he would eat before they would release him.
So, by this time I was dying to get home to my baby, but hesitant because of the money we had already spent and knowing that it would take me most of the day to get home and that by the time I did he would be coming home. Matt and Rick were both saying, "do what you need to do, but it is really not necessary to go home." I knew it wasn't but my heart was breaking and I wanted to hold my baby and I wasn't having any fun staying holed up in the hotel crying and calling Matt and Alicia all day.
So, by this time I was dying to get home to my baby, but hesitant because of the money we had already spent and knowing that it would take me most of the day to get home and that by the time I did he would be coming home. Matt and Rick were both saying, "do what you need to do, but it is really not necessary to go home." I knew it wasn't but my heart was breaking and I wanted to hold my baby and I wasn't having any fun staying holed up in the hotel crying and calling Matt and Alicia all day.
At this time everyone was just assuming that he fell off the steps on the back patio. Matt kept saying to me that it would have been so much worse if he had fallen out a window. I kept telling Matt, Alicia and Rick that I KNEW he fell out the window. I kept thinking of how it happened in my mind and I even explained to Rick how I pictured him hitting the stairs.
Cut to us back home checking the camera's...He fell out the window of our second story home and he hit just how I pictured it, (I think. The camera misses the actual point of impact but from how he landed I am sure it happened in real life, how it happened in my head).
Cut to us back home checking the camera's...He fell out the window of our second story home and he hit just how I pictured it, (I think. The camera misses the actual point of impact but from how he landed I am sure it happened in real life, how it happened in my head).
The last thing I should have done is watch that video but I had to know. I was a wreck for months. I think I had a little post traumatic stress disorder. I couldn't get the image of his scared little face falling right in front of the camera. After he hit the stairs he rolled down to the cement and laid there unconscious for 4 minutes, (watching the time on the video slowly tick by was excruciating). After he starts to move he still lays there for like 3 more minutes trying to get up and can't. It is during this three minutes that he starts to cry and Ryker hears him and comes out. He tries to pick him up but can't, Jaddin comes out shortly after and brings him in the house.
We kept watching the video for awhile after that to see how he acted, he was asleep for about a half hour, then Russell changed his diaper on the couch and when he went to throw it out T.K. totally fell off the couch. :(
I am so grateful that Matt and Alicia were there to take care of him. We are forever indebted to them.
We are so lucky that he is alive. There are 6 possible window that he could have fallen out of, 5 of the 6 have cement below them which would have made the situation more detrimental. The one he fell out of did not have cement under it. It had wood stairs, which was also a blessing because that made it less of a drop, any other window would have been a 4 foot longer drop. Also, with the video we have I know that the stairs are what saved him because I think his head just hit the edge of the stair, which caused some trauma to his skull but it also broke his fall and saved him because his whole head didn't slam down on a flat surface, which I'm sure would have been exponentially worse.
We are so lucky that he is alive. There are 6 possible window that he could have fallen out of, 5 of the 6 have cement below them which would have made the situation more detrimental. The one he fell out of did not have cement under it. It had wood stairs, which was also a blessing because that made it less of a drop, any other window would have been a 4 foot longer drop. Also, with the video we have I know that the stairs are what saved him because I think his head just hit the edge of the stair, which caused some trauma to his skull but it also broke his fall and saved him because his whole head didn't slam down on a flat surface, which I'm sure would have been exponentially worse.
OK I'm spent...Alicia's version below.
He totally fell out the
window!!!
Before you venture forward, I really should
warn you... This is a LONG story!! Without any "to make a long story
short" phrases in it. So if you want to, just take a peek at the pictures
of my nephew, and know that the end is happy!
If you're in it for the long haul, here we go...
Rick and Debbie (My brother and sister-in-law) were going out of town for the
week to Florida. They had arranged for me to take their youngest son, TK (aka
Teek) for them while they were gone. Since their oldest 2 kids didn't have
school the first two days of their trip they decided to change the plans up a
bit and just have me take him the last 3 days they were gone.
They flew out early Monday morning. Monday
afternoon I got a call from Jaddin (their 13 year old). She asked if I would
mind coming over for a minute to check on Teek, she said she got home from
school and he was outside on the back porch screaming his head off and he was
bleeding quite a bit. I am running down the stairs and out the door, because my
first question was "Did he fall out the window" she said she checked
the windows and that they were closed, except for one that was open a tiny bit,
but it didn't look like a big enough crack for him to be able to fall through,
so that was a relief.
When I got there he was sleeping. I was worried this was a bad thing because my Mom always said not to let your kids sleep after bonking their heads, in case they had a concussion. But since my Mom has a history of over reacting (no offense Mom... Love You!!) I decided to call a nurse and ask just to make sure. She let me know it was okay to let him sleep. She just said to try and wake him up in an hour and make sure he would wake up. She let me know what things I could expect if he truly had a concussion, and what things to be concerned about. So I told the kids everything she told me, and then I left Teek with them so I could take my kids to their Back to School night and just told them to call me if they needed any thing else.
When I got home from the kids school their was a message from the kids. So I went back over to see how Teek was doing. He had just thrown up for the 8th time and was still just sitting in a daze so I packed him up and brought him to my house so I could watch him more closely. Well we had been home less than 5 minutes before I realized he was not acting normal. He would not talk, he would not walk, and he threw up for the 9th time. I brought Matt in to get a second opinion since I have a tendency to over react (no offense self... Love You!), but Matt was feeling the same way. So after getting a hold of Rick and Deb and letting them know what was going on, we decided to take him into the ER to get checked up.
It was about 9:30 when Matt took him in. I fell asleep shortly after and woke up around 5 to find that Matt still wasn't home. So I called him and found out that Teek had a fractured skull, and that they would need to watch him in the hospital for a while.
Poor Kid! He spent 2 days and 2 nights in the hospital, and the whole time he was just out of it. He slept 95% of the time. He would wake up for a couple minutes here and there, but he wouldn't talk or walk, and he kept throwing up. The CT Scan of his head looked pretty good. The fracture was not compressed, and there was no brain damage, or bleeding on the brain, so we were really just waiting for him to be able to hold down his food and kind of wake up a little. After 2 days though the doctor decided to do another CT Scan to check to see if there was a slow bleed. If there was the plan was to transfer him up to Primary Children's Hospital. I felt so bad for Rick and Deb, just being so far away, and not able to be there with their baby in the hospital.
When I got there he was sleeping. I was worried this was a bad thing because my Mom always said not to let your kids sleep after bonking their heads, in case they had a concussion. But since my Mom has a history of over reacting (no offense Mom... Love You!!) I decided to call a nurse and ask just to make sure. She let me know it was okay to let him sleep. She just said to try and wake him up in an hour and make sure he would wake up. She let me know what things I could expect if he truly had a concussion, and what things to be concerned about. So I told the kids everything she told me, and then I left Teek with them so I could take my kids to their Back to School night and just told them to call me if they needed any thing else.
When I got home from the kids school their was a message from the kids. So I went back over to see how Teek was doing. He had just thrown up for the 8th time and was still just sitting in a daze so I packed him up and brought him to my house so I could watch him more closely. Well we had been home less than 5 minutes before I realized he was not acting normal. He would not talk, he would not walk, and he threw up for the 9th time. I brought Matt in to get a second opinion since I have a tendency to over react (no offense self... Love You!), but Matt was feeling the same way. So after getting a hold of Rick and Deb and letting them know what was going on, we decided to take him into the ER to get checked up.
It was about 9:30 when Matt took him in. I fell asleep shortly after and woke up around 5 to find that Matt still wasn't home. So I called him and found out that Teek had a fractured skull, and that they would need to watch him in the hospital for a while.
Poor Kid! He spent 2 days and 2 nights in the hospital, and the whole time he was just out of it. He slept 95% of the time. He would wake up for a couple minutes here and there, but he wouldn't talk or walk, and he kept throwing up. The CT Scan of his head looked pretty good. The fracture was not compressed, and there was no brain damage, or bleeding on the brain, so we were really just waiting for him to be able to hold down his food and kind of wake up a little. After 2 days though the doctor decided to do another CT Scan to check to see if there was a slow bleed. If there was the plan was to transfer him up to Primary Children's Hospital. I felt so bad for Rick and Deb, just being so far away, and not able to be there with their baby in the hospital.
After seeing the huge change the nurse called
the doctor and got the okay to send him home without even doing another CT
Scan. We brought him home and he was fine from then on out. You would never in
a million years guess he had just spent the last 2 days in the hospital by the
way he was acting. It was crazy!
We were all DYING to know what happened. Nobody saw anything, and to have a fractured skull you would think it would have been a pretty bad fall. Rick and Deb have a security camera on their back porch so when they got home they were able to watch it and see what happened.
He totally fell out their second story window, head first onto their deck. It is a miracle that he is still alive! It is a miracle that he doesn't have brain damage, or a broken neck, or any broken bones for that matter. Knowing what actually happened makes the whole thing worse, I think. I feel so bad that I came over and checked on him and then left, and let him sleep. I can't believe it was 6 hours before we even took him to the hospital... I just felt sick to my stomach!! I've thought of nothing else for the past few days.
We were all DYING to know what happened. Nobody saw anything, and to have a fractured skull you would think it would have been a pretty bad fall. Rick and Deb have a security camera on their back porch so when they got home they were able to watch it and see what happened.
He totally fell out their second story window, head first onto their deck. It is a miracle that he is still alive! It is a miracle that he doesn't have brain damage, or a broken neck, or any broken bones for that matter. Knowing what actually happened makes the whole thing worse, I think. I feel so bad that I came over and checked on him and then left, and let him sleep. I can't believe it was 6 hours before we even took him to the hospital... I just felt sick to my stomach!! I've thought of nothing else for the past few days.
I feel so blessed! Blessed that he is still
with us! Blessed that he is back to his crazy self!
While we were watching the video again a few days later, Rick paused it and asked "Did anyone see BJ?? He's got to have been there somewhere, did anyone see him?" We laughed!!
Who knows how things work, or why some people are spared miraculously. I definitely feel like the Lords hand was in it, and I like to think that if he does use Angels to protect his children sometimes, that BJ is ours... Either way, we are just grateful to still have our little Teeky!
While we were watching the video again a few days later, Rick paused it and asked "Did anyone see BJ?? He's got to have been there somewhere, did anyone see him?" We laughed!!
Who knows how things work, or why some people are spared miraculously. I definitely feel like the Lords hand was in it, and I like to think that if he does use Angels to protect his children sometimes, that BJ is ours... Either way, we are just grateful to still have our little Teeky!
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1 comments:
Oh Deb....just reading this gives me chills. What a scary day that was. I can't imagine how you felt being so far away! So glad that Teekie's is okay :)
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