The Matthews Family: A little excitement for the New Year

Well, we had a pretty normal New Years Eve and Day. Jeremy and I stayed up on New Years Eve and watched the ball drop. We had church on New Years Day. The kids met their new teachers at church (they have some really good ones) and we had a relaxing day. On the 2nd, everything was getting back to normal after the craziness of the holidays. Jeremy was at work so it was just me and the kids. We had dinner and then it was time to get them to bed. I put Mikayla in the shower in our bathroom and Brooke in the Exersaucer. I started a bath for Gavin and then went up into the attic to get a couple of baby items. Nothing big, just a couple of things that I could throw down the steps. As I was climbing down, I missed a step, fell back about 4-5 steps and hit the back of my head. I remember having an instant searing headache when I did this. That is also the last thing I remember for probably about an hour. I did not pass out (according to Gavin at least who saw the whole thing), but I definitely had some memory loss. According to Gavin, I got up, closed the attic steps and turned off his water. I then called Jeremy, twice apparently, I told him I had hit my head and that I needed him to come home. He knew something was wrong since I don’t ever do this. He was quickly trying to close up the warehouse and make the 45 minute trip home. After calling him, I called my parents. I told them the same story that I had Jeremy and they quickly started driving. It’s a 30 minute drive and I apparently was impatient and confused because I called them at least 2 additional times with the same story. They had my youngest sister stay on the phone with me to make sure I was generally okay. They also prompted me to call a neighbor from church. This is when I started remembering things. I remember opening the door for my neighbor. Its weird because, I didn’t remember calling her, but I knew exactly why she was there. During all of the conversations with my mom, she kept asking if I needed to call an ambulance, and I kept saying I didn’t. As I was sitting down on the couch, with my children now safely in the care of my neighbor, I started putting things together. I had no idea when it was. I knew it was Christmas time because of the decorations, but I honestly couldn’t remember celebrating it. This is when I got really scared. The downside of being a nurse, is that I started thinking about all of the bad things that I could have done to my head…do I have a subdural bleed, and epidural bleed, a skull fracture. This is when I decided that I needed an ambulance. I called them…I’m surprised that I knew what to tell them. I barely remember making the call. Thankfully, the firehouse is right around the corner, so they were there very quickly. My parents arrived shortly after the ambulance did and my dad was able to give me a priesthood’s blessing. I was very grateful for this. It helped me to feel less scared about everything. I was taken to the hospital and long-story short, they did a CT and everything was okay….just a pretty bad concussion. I took a week off of work to recuperate and now I am mostly back to normal. I am still having some problems with my memory, but nothing horrible…its getting better and better each day. I was amazed at how long it took for me to be able to think quickly and clearly afterwards. I look back on this situation and I am so thankful that my children were protected during all of this. I somehow knew to turn of Gavin’s water and I knew to call for help, even with all of my apparent confusion. I keep thinking about how differently everything could have turned out, but I firmly believe that my Father in Heaven was protecting my children and I. I am so profoundly grateful for that.

Here is a picture of my view from the stretcher in the trauma room at Northside Forsyth….