On March 27th, we were enjoying a relaxed and laid back Friday afternoon. Darin had taken the day off from work and we were enjoying a little "stay-cation". We had stayed the night before at a local hotel that had an indoor water park. We'd been back home for perhaps an hour and a half and it was a beautiful day. Darin decided to go into the backyard to finish installing a zip line that he'd been working on for Lucy and Collin. It was a part of the amazing play barn he'd been building for them:
Nora was napping, Lucy was working with one of her respite providers, Collin was engrossed in his own activities and I was tidying up in the "school room" when I heard a thud from outside and the sound of Darin groaning in pain. I quickly ran to our backyard and found him on his back sprawled on the ground. His fifteen foot ladder, fully extended, was leaning against our maple tree.
"Honey, should I call an ambulance or do you think I can get you into the van and take you to the ER?" I asked him calmly.
"Call an ambulance," he responded with a calmness that matched mine. Thankfully, our next door neighbor was home, saw what was happening and was by Darin's side while I ran in to retrieve my phone.
I told Lucy and Collin that their daddy was hurt, I was calling an ambulance and that we were going to "trust God with their daddy". I dialed 911 and went back to Darin who at this point was completely unaware of what happened, what day it was or what he had been doing.
In a flash, a team of paramedics arrived, assessed his condition, cut his clothing off and put him on a stretcher. Lucy and Collin witnessed these moments and Lucy immediately began crying and expressed her fears that her daddy was too hurt to go back to work and that we would not "have any money to buy food". Collin watched silently with his lip quivering. Our pastor's wife, Laura, arrived to stay with all the kids so that Ruth, Lucy's respite provider could be relieved and I could go to the ER with Darin.
We made it to the ER and I sat calmly in the waiting room, waiting to hear what the initial exam and x-ray revealed. I was determined not to "jump to any conclusions" yet. Our pastor, Scott showed up and was already giving support and praying with me when the trauma doctor approached me in the waiting room.
"He has a fractured vertebrae. And a spinal cord injury. He has sensation in his legs, but no movement," she explained.
"Sensation, but no movement," I repeated, "Ummm, what is the difference between sensation and movement?" I dumbly asked.
"He can tell if something is touching his legs, but he cannot move them. He will be transferred soon to the ICU where you will meet with a neurosurgeon to discuss the next steps."
The calm suddenly gave way to fear and Scott put his arm around my shoulders as the tears freely came.
A LOT has happened since that afternoon. Darin was hospitalized for a total of 40 days. The hospital stay included a seven-hour surgery to stabilize the burst vertebrae, one week in the ICU, one week in acute care and four weeks of inpatient rehabilitation. He spends most of his time in a wheel chair now, but praise God, he has regained some mobility in his legs! He can even do some walking with a leg brace and his walker! But things will never be the same.
He is now back home and has been here for three weeks. He is trying to get used to life with his new disability and we are all adjusting to big changes. I am learning to be his caregiver, keeping up with parenting our children, and starting to pick up as many of his former household responsibilities as I can. We have A LOT of help. We have more support than we could have ever dreamed of. We are NOT on this journey alone. God is taking care of us through His people.
It is still hard. There are a lot of unknowns about the future and we are facing a lot of fears. I don't have a lot of free time. Right now I am staying up later than I should, typing this. But, I feel like I need to start processing the past two months in writing and also document the journey going forward as best as I am able. I want to use this blog as an outlet to do that. I hope you will be blessed by the stories I have to share. Stay tuned.
xoxo,
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