The first day of school was great.  No tears for anyone involved, and she came out smiling at the end of the day.  She loved learning new things, and getting to go outside for recess.  Wonderful!

The evening, however, got a little dicey.

Chris plays soccer once a week on Monday nights at the indoor arena in Carrollton with some friends.  He’s played there for years, continuing his lifelong love and involvement with this sport.  So far, in all his years of playing soccer, he’s never had a broken bone or major injury.  Just a few sprains and strains here and there.  And I honestly have never thought twice about the possibility of injury.

He left our house at about 8:45 to make it to the game that started around 9pm.  And then he called me at home at about 9:15.  When I saw his name on caller ID I thought that he was probably calling to tell me that the game had been canceled because there weren’t enough players.  So I was completely surprised by this conversation:

Chris: Kerri?

Me:  Yes?

C:  I went up for a head ball and got hit in the head by another player’s elbow.

M: Ok….?

C:  So I’m going to the hospital to make sure everything’s ok.

M:  You are?  Are you ok!?

C:  I am, but I have a huge dent in my forehead!  I think I might have a skull fracture!

M:  Ok, well Chris- you need to call 911!!!

C:  Oh.  Well, I was just going to drive myself there.

M:  Chris!!!  If you have a concussion you could pass out while you’re driving!!!

C:  Ok, let me call you back.

So I got off the phone and I froze for a second.  I just sat there looking at the phone in my hand like it was going to bite me or something.  Then I quickly jumped up and called my sweet neighbor who is retired and tells me every time I see her to call if I ever need anything.  She answered the phone and when I told her that it was me, she said,  “Are you ok?  Do you need me to come over?  What’s going on?”  I told her and she said she would come over as soon as she got her clothes on.  And I’m not kidding you- that woman must have shown up within a minute.

Then I called Scott and Meredith (bro and sis-in-law in Dallas) and they said Scott would be up shortly to take Brenda’s place (did I mention that the kids were all asleep?)  And then since Brenda was here, I jumped in my car and raced to the hospital to meet my dented-forehead-hubby.  I beat the ambulance there, but once I filled out the paper work, they brought him in and I went in to his room and saw this:

Poor Chris!

So here’s what happened.  Like he said, he went up for a header and another guy did too.  Somehow the other guy’s elbow banged him in the forehead and it broke something.  Sadly the ref didn’t even stop the game and since Chris didn’t get knocked out he walked off the field and gathered his things to “drive himself to the hospital.”

At the e.r. we were mainly concerned with whether or not there was any internal bleeding, but the cat scan showed no brain involvement.  His sinus cavity was crushed though- a “minor skull fracture” as the doctor put it.  He had a slight nose bleed at one point while we were there, and the doc said that was pretty normal since the sinus cavity was fractured and filled with blood.  So he gave Chris some vicodin for the intense headache, referred us to an ent for the following day, and sent us home.  Amazingly this all happened in less than two hours in the e.r.  That’s a small miracle for Plano Presby.

We hardly slept that night at all.  For some reason, Bella was up every couple of hours crying.  I had to check on Chris every 3 hours, per the doctor’s instructions.  Asher woke up and said he was too cold.  And then by about 4 am I was wide awake and just coudln’t go back to sleep.  And then the next day started.

7:30 , Tuesday morning- took Amai to school

8:00- took my car to the dealership with Asher and Bella because the air stopped working on Monday.

8:30- schlepped all three carseats, two strollers, diaper bag, purse, two children’s books and a toy car out of my car and into the rental without a single male offering me any help.  It was only after Asher almost put the rental car in gear that the rental car guy said a single word to me.  Did I mention that Bella was crying the entire time and I had to keep her in her carseat (sitting on the ground) while I was doing all of this?

9:00- finally left the dealership/rental place.  Called the ent to get an appointment for Chris.  Nice receptionist said, “Can you get here in 15 minutes?”  Um, no.  Rushed home to pick up Chris (Bella was still crying and Asher kept asking for a piece of gum.)

10:00- got to the doctor’s office.  put the kids in the double stroller and went inside to find out that Chris needs to have a titanium plate surgically placed in his forehead.  The surgery is not mandatory, but in order to repair his sinus cavity we have to have it done.  The doctor was very nice and I felt very confident in all that he was telling us.  Chris was very groggy from the lack of sleep and the 2 vicodin he took that morning.  His head still hurt, but much less than the previous night.

11:30- drove all the way back to the soccer arena because Chris thought he left his car unlocked.  It wasn’t.  It was locked.

12:00- finally got home and put the little kids in bed for a nap.  tried to lay down for some sleep, but the phone kept ringing.

2:30- went to pick up Amai from school and unknowingly stood in a gigantic ant pile.  got ant bites all over my feet and left ankle.  couldn’t even get all the ants off right away because I was holding Bella.

3:45- car dealership called and said my car was ready.  Thankfully, Chris’s parents came up so I could go take care of returning the rental without any more hassle.

5:30- got home in time to feed Bella one more time and head straight back to Amai’s school for yet another informational meeting.

7:30- home

9:00- bed

It was a really long day.  The kids didn’t sleep well at all that night either.  And then today I saw a blister on Bella’s toe, so I think all of her crying was because she may have hand foot and mouth.  Chris was still pretty tired that night, but his headache was much better so I think he slept much more comfortably that night.  Overall he seems to be bouncing back pretty quickly from the pain of the injury, even though the dent and the crushed sinus cavity remains.  He always amazes me with how unphased he is by things like this.  He actually worked from home yesterday (Wednesday) and is going in to work today.

This whole experience reminded me again how much I hate going to the hospital and especially the e.r.  It brings back so many feelings tied to losing my mom and all of the times she was in the hospital.  And those moments before we knew if Chris’s brain had been affected felt so long.  I will admit it- I was completely freaked out.  Once we found out there was no brain injury I was completely relieved.  Now I’m realizing that we have a big surgery to go through and that makes me nervous too.

It’s 2:35 am right now on Wednesday, and Amai woke up a little while ago saying her throat hurts when she swallows.  Chris will be having surgery at 7:30 am on Friday morning.  And we could all just stand to receive a few prayers.  Pray that my sweet children will sleep peacefully for a few nights so I can get some rest in order to care for everyone.  Pray that the 3 hour surgery on Friday is very uneventful and a huge success in fixing his sinus cavity (and the big dent.)  Pray that Bella and Amai aren’t really coming down with anything.  And pray for me as I sit in the waiting room during surgery.  I hate seeing my loved ones in hospital beds- it’s just a little too familiar and haunting for me.  Pray that I can be steady and strong for Chris, as he always is for me.

Thanks for thinking of us this week.  I will update when things calm down a little bit, and once the surgery is complete.  Now I will try to get some sleep.