Actually, it was a big truck that ran Grandma over this year. On December 9th while my mom was on her regular morning run she was crossing the street in a crosswalk with the light and a guy was turning left and ran right into her because he didn't see her. Thankfully she is okay. She has many broken bones, including 9 ribs on the right, 5 ribs on the left, her pelvis in several places, both clavicles (shoulder bones), her right scapula (shoulder blade), right thumb, sternum, a small bone in her face, and some others. She also had a laceration in her spleen and a squished bladder (I don't remember the technical term). They fixed her spleen and she had surgery to repair her pelvis and had some hardware put in to keep it in place. At first they told us she'd probably be in the hospital for a month. She was in ICU for 4 days, then out of the hospital 4 days later, released to a rehab center where she'll be for about 3 1/2 weeks. She is a quick healer and very eager to get home so she is doing everything the doctors and physical therapists tell her to do.
There have been many tender mercies through this whole thing. First of all, the fact that she did not have any head trauma or brain injury is amazing considering all her other injuries. Then there were other little things:
1. That morning I woke up by myself--both the girls were still sleeping and I just woke up, which never happens to this sleep-deprived mom. I went into the kitchen to start getting breakfast and not 2 minutes later my cell phone, which I had accidentally left on vibrate, began buzzing. It was my dad calling to tell me about the accident. I never would have heard that had I still been asleep.
2. One of the first people who stopped to help my mom until the ambulance got there was a doctor at UMC where she ended up being taken. This woman turned out to be the anesthesiologist who helped with my mom's surgery, as well. She came by several times while my mom was at UMC to check in and see how she was doing.
3. The fact that Annie is such a good sleeper and is such an easy baby. Had this happened in a few months when Annie will be more awake and require more attention, it would have been a bit harder on me. As it was, I've been able to mostly just have Annie around and feed her when she gets hungry, then set her back in her car seat and she'll sleep away the hours until it's time for her to eat again, letting me do whatever I need to help mom out. Had this happened a couple of months earlier, it probably would have sent me into labor and I'd be out of commission for helping out at all. So I guess, if this had to happen, it was relatively good timing for me.
4. This happened the day before my Grandpa (Mom's dad) and his wife Pat were about to go back up to Idaho after visiting for a few days. They were able to watch Rachel while I went down to the hospital to be with Dad while we were waiting for more news, which was so nice. They also were able to go in and see her before they flew home the next day.
5. All the people that have helped out have made such a difference, too. Rachel has had a blast going to a different friend's house every day. We've had meals brought over which has been so nice because so many times we were walking in the door at 6 or 6:30, not even able to think about what to have for dinner, but we didn't have to because someone else had thought about that for me. I've learned about little things that make such a difference that I hope to remember to do for someone else when I get a chance. Things like dropping off a gallon of milk so I would be able to go that much longer before I had to make a trip to the store. Or having lunch ready for me when I came to pick up Rachel especially since most days I was forgetting to eat lunch until like 3:00. Or my visiting teachers coming over and helping clean my disaster of a house that otherwise wouldn't have been cleaned for quite a while. Or giving me a bag of chocolates to sustain me in those I-need-a-boost moments. People in my mom's ward, and some of her other friends even volunteered to come to the hospital to hold Annie so I could go into ICU to hang out with Mom until Annie got hungry, then I could go feed her, and go back in.
So many things to be thankful for. Most of all that my mom is so awesome and that she'll be around for years to come. It's moments like these when you come so close to losing someone you love that you really appreciate all the blessings you have. And I am very blessed.
The one regret is that I had just resolved to get caught up on blogging when this happened. Now I'm even more behind. ;) Maybe I'll have Mom do it for me with all her sitting around these days.... ;)
Not too long and she'll be holding Annie to build her arm strength back up (Annie is getting to be quite the chunker). When she gets LOTS of muscles maybe she'll start lifting Jared to exercise those arms. Savannah and Jared, are coming back to Tucson in January to help out when Mom gets to go home. Todd will come, too, probably, when he can arrange his work so he can work remotely. Mom will do anything to get her grandkids to come visit, I guess. ;)
