Hi everyone
Life changes in a second, Corey came down in the chairlift to start our day. Instead of waiting for me, she tried to stand and walk by herself. She fell and lost consciousness.
It was a terrifying experience. Corey stood off the chairlift without me. She fell and hit her head knocking her unconscious for about 5mins.
911 dispatched our local West Grove Ambulance team and they arrived in minutes. Two of the EMTs knew Corey.
The Christiana ER team also responded quickly by getting her into a CT scan and xray. She was cleared for a brain bleed and fractures. The Neuro team compared her scans with past scans and cleared her to go home.
Corey has a concussion on top of the brain injury. She is showing signs of side affects. Her left side is weaker. She can’t wiggle her left toes. Her speech is more slurred, she is more confused finding her words. She has a terrible headache and her eyes are slightly dilated. We are hoping she will bounce back and this fall will not cause regression. She had a great deal of difficulty walking tonight with her left knee collapsing with each step. She’s going to be sore for a few days I’m sure. Falls are the #1 cause for multiple TBI’s
Brain injury is like a devastating earthquake. It levels you to your foundation and for some, breaks you. If you’re lucky enough to rebuild, you begin to heal. As we heal, we pack away certain emotions in order to focus on moving forward. The trauma of a set back is like the unexpected tremors that randomly follow the quake. The tremors don’t necessarily cause more damage but it shakes you just enough to push the box filled with those fears off the shelf; which you thought you neatly tucked away in the your subconscious closet. When that box hits your emotional floor, out spills the buried panic and fear. Corey was unresponsive and I was terrified. I couldn’t think of my address or Corey’s birthday to answer the dispatchers questions. I was trying to listen to his voice as I called out repeatedly to Corey hoping she could hear mine.
Although we are settled at home now, my body just stopped shaking; the nausea from the adrenaline lingers. Corey is asleep and I’m thankful our nurse is here tonight so I can get rest.
Life changes in a second. We are lucky, tomorrow we get to rebuild again. Please stay positive. Please let go of what’s not important. Please take time to give hugs, a kiss, a phone call with words of encouragement or praise. Appreciate today, the hour, the minute, the people in your life…be present, be loving, and give the best of yourself to another. But most importantly, be open to receive the best from someone else, xoxo