The Accident

12/2/2011:  2:08 PM

Davis was scheduled for chemo yesterday, but it didn't happen.  On Monday, Davis thought his hemoglobin was getting low.  When his hemoglobin is low, he experiences tiredness, dizziness, and headaches. He was scheduled to get a CBC and CMP on Wednesday, so we decided to wait until then to see if he was right. By Wednesday, Davis was dragging. I knew that there was something wrong. We went to SBLHC before school for his blood tests. The lab techs were having a difficult time getting enough blood to come out to full the viles, and by the time they would get a tube filled, it would clot and have to be redone. He had to have four sticks to complete the task. He was so drained; he propped his head up on the arm of the chair using my coat and slept.

Around 11:00 AM, I got a call from SLCH clinic. Davis' hemoglobin was low as were his platelets. He would need two pints of blood and a unit of platelets soon.  The nurse gave us the option of coming down on Wednesday and getting started or to wait and do it all in one day in clinic on Thursday. The entire process would take 6-8 hours. I decided I would let Davis decide depending on how he felt. I checked on him at school during the beginning of his lunch hour, and he had withered considerably. I brought him home to rest. After much debate between the three of us (Kyle, Davis, and myself), it was decided that Davis should go to St. Louis that day to get started. It wasn't long after that the nurse called and told us that the clinic felt that Davis should head down on Wednesday. The transfusions would be started in clinic, and he would be transfered over to a room on the impatient side. All of the blood and platelets would be given on Wednesday evening, and Davis would be observed oevrnight.

We made it to clinic around 3:30 PM. Davis didn't realize that he would be admitted until the nurse mentioned that his room was ready. Davis has severe anxiety about staying in the hospital, so I casually neglected to leave that information out of the conversation we had before we headed down to St. Louis. I know, dishonest mom, right? Well, it bought me 2 1/2 hours of peace on the way down to St. Louis, but I still feel guilty.

The set up wasn't ideal. We were given an A side (smaller side with no parent bed) for the night. Actually, I didn't even have one of the foldout chair beds. I had a padded chair in which to sleep, and Davis' bed seemed smaller than usual. I crawled in bed with him at some point in the evening to take a nap (I was functioning on a few hours of sleep because I had a migraine the night before). I was hanging half-on and half-off and using my coat as a blanket and my arm as a pillow. Our roommate, a teenage boy, was quite a snorer, but both Davis and I were too tired to be annoyed.

Other than napping, we passed the evening and night by going on a "mom and son date". We ordered food from a nearby Applebee's. I told him to get whatever he wanted. We went to town: milkshakes, appetizer, two entrees, and a dessert. It was a few blocks away, so I had to walk to pick it up. Walk, no, I pretty much ran there and back because it was so cold . . .and dark . . . and a little creepy. Being a fan of "48 Hours Mystery" can sometimes work against me. I made it back in record time. Davis was waiting on his nightly medicines, specifically his anti-nausea medicine, before he could eat because his stomach was upset. The promised ten minutes wait turned into a two hour wait. Depsite my constant bugging and questioning, pharmacy didn't send it any sooner.  It totally ruined our evening. I sat up our meal in the play room, and I wheeled Davis in. Because he was so nauseous, he couldn't eat anything. He sat and watched me eat. Poor guy.

Davis' hospital stay anxiety didn't go away, and they discharged us at 11:30 PM. He didn't really need to stay. The doctor set it up so we could since we live so far away from St. Louis. We stopped at a hotel in Collinsville for the night. Thursday morning, we checked out and headed over to the Waffle House for breakfast. Davis loved it. He ate most of his plate and then started in on mine. He is such a slow eater. Finally, I whipped out my book and let him take his time filling his belly. An hour later, we were back on the road.

With his full belly and improved blood and platelet levels, Davis was back to sleep in no time. The traffic was flowing, and I noticed an increase in semitrailers on the road. I didn't know if it was the time of day I was travelling or if it was because of the holidays, but there were semis everywhere. I was travelling in a pack of semis and a handful of cars. It appeared we had all set our cruise controls for 70 because we were all moving at the same speed as a unit. We were clipping along between Greenville and Vandalia near the Hurricane Creek bridges when a small black pick-up truck to my right (I was in the left-hand lane) started hugging the white line. I looked to my right and could see him. Our side mirrors were going to bump, so I laid on my horn in an effort to get his attention. I thought since he was looking to his right that he was probably just swerving around a dead animal or debris that was hanging over into his lane. No big deal. However, he didn't head back to his lane. He came over to mine. Very aware that Davis was sleeping in the back seat on the passenger's side, I pulled off - I was forced off - onto the shoulder going nearly 70. I had decreased my speed but didn't slam on my breaks because there were several semis behind me. Quick decision making and a bit of panic took over when I noticed that I was getting ready to slam head-on into a concrete bridge. My other two options consisted of taking the ditch to my left which led to a substantial drop into a concrete-lined embankment which led to the swollen Hurricane Creek or pull back onto the interstate slamming into the guy (Davis's side taking the hit) who forced me off of the road and chancing my luck that no other cars or semis would come into our path given we wreck.

In retrospect, I am amazed at how well the brain works under pressure and circumstances. My thoughts were a jagged mixture of logistics, scenarios, prayers, and pleas. I am amazed at how instinctive it was to protect Davis, and the only panicked thought I had was wondering if it hurt to die, because I was for certain that I, possibly we, weren't going to survive this.

I pulled back onto the interstate going between 55 and 65 miles per hour. I believe my passenger's side front area hit the black truck's back left side, which caused my back end to spend counter clockwise. I tried to regain control of the vehicle and straighten it out, but the hit was too hard and I was moving too fast. I feared breaking too much because I didn't want to lose total control or slow down into oncoming traffic. I was able to keep it on the road for a bit. I did a full spin and and half before Davis's side slammed into the second concrete bridge over Hurricane Creek. The front half of my car was hanging over into left hand lane and I was staring right into oncoming traffic. I tried to move my car but it was hung up on the bridge. I was stuck. Vehicles were quickly maneuvering to get into the right hand lane to avoid hitting me. I immediately took off my seat belt and turned around to check on Davis.

His response, "Mom, what happened?" You are not going to believe this. Davis slept through the whole thing. He woke up on impact. I asked him if he was ok  . . . hurt . . . his port . . . I was talking a million miles an hour. I am sure he thought I was nuts. He said he was perfectly fine, and that is when I felt the sharp pain in my head for the first time. I began looking for my cell phone. Davis had it in the back seat before the accident, and now we couldn't locate it.  We finally did.  By the time I called 911, several witnesses had reported the accident and an ambulance and state police were on their way. We sat there for minutes which felt like hours. A state worker who resembled a scruffy Ben Affleck pulled up in front of my car. He checked on us and told me that he saw it happen but because we were on a series of bridges and couldn't get turned around to come back. He turned the lights of his vehicle on, put on a yellow jumper, and directed traffic on the interstate.  God bless this good Samaritan. I will never be able to thank him properly.

The ambulance and state police showed up about five minutes later. I informed the EMT about Davis' medical situation, and he quickly disappeared. Davis' car door was crushed and the EMT couldn't get it open. I am not sure how he did or what he did, but he was checking on Davis in no time, while the other EMT was seeing to me. I refused treatment, because I was fine. A headache, that's it. The other EMT reported that Davis was great. He told me that if Davis hadn't been propped against a pillow and a blanket that this could have played out much differently. The EMTs and cop also expressed a concern that the air bags didn't deploy and said I should do an inquiry on that as well.

The EMTs and police officer checked out my car and determined that it was drivable. They sandwiched me as I drove to Vandalia. We pulled off into a vacant lot where the police officer finished the paper work and we waited on Kyle. I had called Kyle immediately after the wreck, and he was on his way.

The police officer had finished with the paperwork at about the same time that Kyle had arrived. Apparently, there were several eyewitnesses who had called in. There was a partial plate, make, and model of vehicle as well.  There were checkpoints set up along the interstate at Brownstown and Effingham looking for the guy who ran me off the road. His plates were from out of state.  As of now, he still hasn't been located. The state police believe that he exited at the first Vandalia exit and took back roads. It is also possible that he lives in Vandalia. The police officer told Kyle later in the day that he was checking work establishments around town to try to identify the vehicle.  The odds of catching him are slim, but I don't care. The only thing that matters is that Davis is ok, and he is.

Davis makes me laugh. You gotta love the innocence of a child.  AS we were waiting on the interstate for the police to arrive, Davis said a couple of things that made me smile, "Mom, you can't tell Anna. I get to tell her. She isn't going to believe this." and "I hope my Ipad isn't broken."  It was in the trunk, and it's fine. When we were pulling into Vandalia with the police officer in front of us and the ambulance behind us, Davis said, "Mom, is there an IHOP in this town. I'm hungry."  While we were surveying the car damage with the police officer, he said, "We could walk over to the KFC and get something to eat while we are just waiting around here."  I was trying not to get sick to my stomach and he was trying to fill his belly.  Too cute.

I don't really believe in coincidence. I think that I would miss out on too many valuable lessons I could learn from if I did. The EMT who examined Davis shared with me that his EMT partner had leukemia when he was ten years old and is now married with with babies. The police officer who looked after us told Davis how proud he was of him for fighting this battle before he revealed that he had a brain tumor and was undergoing chemotherapy himself. Hmmm. What are the odds that we would be sent an EMT and a police officer whose lives had been closely touched by cancer?

Kyle drove the car home, and I followed in our Jeep. As I began to relax, the pain in my head was becoming more and more of a concern. I can't really remember when I hit my head (an inch above my forehead right along my part and two inches below and to the left side of my crown); I think it was when I hit the guy, but I am not sure. I had a horrible headache, a nice knot, twitching in my eye, and I couldn't chew because of jaw pain. Oh, and it felt like I had an ear infection. When I made it back to Charleston, I headed to the doctor's office. I know this sounds terrible, but I kept thinking about that actress Natasha Richardson who hit her head skiing, thought she was fine, and later died. By the time I made it to the doctor's office, I was physically sick to my stomach and very tired: two symptoms I thought were related to nerves and adrenaline crash. Well, I was wrong. I had a concussion, and I was sent to Sarah Bush for a CT scan to make sure there was nothing more serious lurking.  I was fine. Nothing serious. I was given the ok to sleep.  I have been on pain meds and doing a lot of sleeping. I am supposed to see some improvement in 48 hours.  Today, my head feels better but everything from my rib cage up is super sore and is causing a great deal of discomfort. I am not complaining. I am more than happy to be alive.

I can't even begin to count all of the ways I felt God was with us yesterday. I play the wreck over and over in my mind. I can't figure out what kept me from hitting other cars around me, what kept me from being hit head-on or by a semi, or what kept us from falling off the bridge, etc. God. I should be dead. Davis should be dead. I am just so thankful . . . so grateful. I joke when I say that I am pretty sure I would be a great Nascar driver, but I thank God for keeping his hand on us.

Thank you for all of your concerns, thoughts, well-wishes, and prayers.  It is such a comfort to see the rally of support when we struggle with situations.  You carry so many of our burdens and make our journey a little lighter.

Davis' chemo was postponed.  He is scheduled to have it on Tuesday pending a good report on his blood work on Monday. He will then get a two week break to let his counts build. So, we will be heading back down to Children's on Tuesday. I think I am going to let Kyle drive. :)

We will keep you posted.

Davis has been on a Mexican kick lately. I think he could eat it for every meal.

Wednesday morning blood work. His hemoglobin was so low that he just couldn't stay awake.

I know I was having more fun than he was.

Mom and son date in the playroom. I ate, he didn't.

Hotel at midnight. Sure beats the hospital atmosphere.  And look, a bed all to myself.

IHOP. Need I say more?  Davis is a huge fan of IHOP.

My view after the accident. I managed to turn my wheels and scooch a bit to try to get myself
out of the right lane. State worker parked in front of me to keep people from hitting me.

We think this is where it started. This is where the guy hit me when I merged back into traffic to
avoid hitting the concrete bridge head-on. This was jsut the beginning of the damage to the car.