While I was away for the weekend, Carrie, Levi, Hayden, and Tanner slept over at our house. The boys had a few hockey games in Provo. The kids love love loved having their cousins over!
Grandma came up to watch a game, and brought Brylie with her.
She also took Rockwell (and Hayden) out for Rockwell's birthday Grandma Date. He had a great time! She stayed and played games with Paul and the kids and brought them some souvenirs from their most recent trip to Europe.
Soon after I woke up in Logan Friday morning, my dad texted the family and let us know that my mom had fallen while she was out on her run that morning. She broke both her jaws and cut her chin open to the bone. An ambulance had taken her to the emergency room since my dad isn't able to drive while his neck is healing from his surgery. Al had gone up there and taken my dad to the hospital and they were waiting to be checked into the hospital so she could have surgery on her jaw. I wanted to be there with my mom, so Audrey, Katie and I quickly checked out of our Airbnb and headed back. It was hard to see my mom so beat up, but I was so glad to get there and be with her. After the plastic surgeon that had been planning on doing the surgery looked at my mom's x-rays they decided to have an oral surgeon do it instead. She fractured her top jaw and bottom jaw, and her bottom jaw was shattered on one side. I can't even imagine how painful that must have been! The oral surgeon wasn't available to do the surgery until the next morning. I was so glad I had my overnight bag in the car from our girls night so I could stay the night with my mom. Neither of us got much sleep, and were very glad when it was finally time for the surgery Saturday morning. Al picked my dad up early that morning to make sure they were there before she went to the operating room. The surgery went well, and they got her chin stitched up and her jaws wired completely shut so they could heal. We were all relieved when she came back to her room.
We were all pretty exhausted and tried to sneak in some naps when we could throughout the day.
Since her jaws were wired completely shut, she wasn't able to drink out of a straw. She needed to be fed through a syringe with a tube extension on the end. The nurse showed us how to do it so we would be able to feed her when we went home. It's a slow process and I'm sure my mom was so hungry for the 5 weeks she had to eat this way. She was a very good sport about it and was always so grateful to each of us when we helped her eat. Mel was great about coming up with some good ideas of things to combine and blend up for a tasty meal. My dad brought an overnight bag and stayed the night Saturday with her. I'm sure that wasn't comfortable with his neck brace, but he wanted to be there with her. She was able to go home Sunday afternoon and was happy to get out of the hospital.
Matt and Cody flew in to help out and see Mom. There was a lot to get taken care of since neither Mom or Dad were able to drive, and their whole diet needed to be completely changed, and Mom needed all sorts of new medicines, and neither of them were able to do any lifting or housework. What an overwhelming feeling!! There was plenty for each of us to do over the next few days, and it was nice to have Matt there to stay at their house and help with what they needed during the nights.
My parents hung the giant head pictures that Lori had printed for their 50th anniversary party in their garage. They're of each of them when they were first married. They had a good laugh saying they should write Year 1 under those pictures, and then hang this picture below it and write Year 50. Haha! Things sure can change in 50 years. :)
There sure is a lot of love that can be grown in 50 years too!!
Paul took care of all the things at home and with the kids for quite a few days so I could be with my parents. One night when I got home, I was overcome by the sweetness of the crock pot out on the counter with the liner in it. Paul had cleaned the house, taken care of getting all the kids where they needed to be, and had even got the crock pot prepared for me because he knew I was making soup the next day that I could take to my mom. Sometimes the people who aren't right there in the "action" of events can be overlooked. But Paul made it possible for me to be where I needed to be that week. I'm so grateful to have a partner like that. Thank you Paul!
The pain in my mom's face was so severe that she didn't even notice that she had also fractured her kneecap until days later. We were afraid she would need another surgery, but luckily the doctor said that should heal on its own. I've been able to take my parents to some of their doctor appointments, shop for them, and help clean their house. I hate hate hate that this happened to my mom. I have enjoyed seeing more of them the past month though. I'm glad I live close enough that I can help out and see my mom progress in her healing.
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