Face Plant - July 2017

This past summer I passed out when we were on BYU campus in Provo, Utah.  The temperature was in the hundreds, and we were hiking back and forth across campus (couldn't park anywhere near the dorms) moving Emily and Elisabeth into the dorms for a week of EFY.  I didn't have a hat on, I wasn't drinking water, and I was out of breath ( higher altitude and just plain out of shape from this bout with cancer).  When we were done moving the girls in, we hugged them goodbye, and then Leilani, Benjamin, Robert and I decided to go to the Bean Museum (Alan wasn't with us because he had to work).  We were parked in the Marriott Center parking lot, so I just decided we should climb the stairs to the museum, since things have changed a lot on campus and I wasn't sure we could drive there anymore.  We climbed the stairs, since the buildings all around were locked (it was the 24th of July - a holiday in Utah).  As we started walking towards the museum, Robert decided that he didn't want to go and ran back down the stairs.  Leilani went after him and Benjamin and I continued to the museum.  We were right  above the stairs down to the entrance of the museum when I started having trouble breathing, felt dizzy and light headed, and had black spots before my eyes.  I grabbed a cement planter and yelled for Benjamin (who was in front of me). 

I don't remember anything after that until I woke up face down on the hot pavement of the sidewalk, with Benjamin yelling for Leilani and some random people trying to help me up.  Apparently I fainted - Ben does a great impression of my fall.  He said he tried to catch me and stop me from falling, but he could only slow my fall down...which is a good thing, because I probably would have broken my nose otherwise.  The people who stopped to help were worried that my nose and head wouldn't stop bleeding.  I told them that the bleeding probably wouldn't stop for a while because I was on blood thinners for cancer.  So they gave me a pile of napkins, some ice, and some water.  They weren't sure if they should leave, but I told them that Leilani was there and we would be fine.  I think they assumed she could drive - I wish!  So they helped me down the stairs to a bench in the shade. (I am so glad I didn't fall down the stairs when I passed out!)  Turns out the museum was closed for the holiday too, so the whole trip up there was pointless, but it was an adventure! 

Leilani took control after that.  She called Aunt Doretta - who we were staying with - and told her what happened.  Aunt Doretta called her son, my cousin Tyler, and he agreed to drive her down to Provo so she could drive us and our van back to her house.  While we were waiting, Benjamin hiked back down to the car and brought back a backpack full of drinks and snacks.  Leilani made sure I stayed awake, and kept napkins and ice on my forehead.  I wanted her to take a picture of me so I could see what I looked like, but she refused and said I really didn't want to know what I looked like.  I wanted to take the bloody napkins off my head, but she correctly stopped me and pointed out that it could pull off any clotting material and make it start bleeding harder.  So we just kept putting new napkins over the old ones.  When Aunt Doretta got there (she had to come from SLC and Tyler came from Bountiful), she got the van and drove up to the museum so we could get in, and then she drove us to her house.  For the next week I didn't drive, put antibiotic cream and ice on my face, and rode in a wheelchair at the zoo.  My parents flew Alan to Utah so he could drive us all home when EFY was over.  When Emily and Elisabeth saw me, they were shocked, but I hadn't wanted to worry them, so we didn't tell them while they were at EFY.  It took about 2 1/2 months for my face and head to completely heal, and my head is still tender - even now in December - in a few places.  People kept asking me - jokingly for the most part - if my husband had hit me.  I'm just glad my family was there for me.  I think it traumatized my son Benjamin a little bit, though, because he promised me that I would never fall again on his watch, and he has made sure to put his arm around me and help me whenever he can. 

Here are some of the pictures to show the progression of my wounds:

 Right after it happened, on a bench by the museum.

The next morning.  My right eye was swollen shut.  I wanted a blessing, so Aunt Doretta drove us to Uncle Dick and Aunt Evelyn's house.  As soon as the blessing was over, my eye opened, and it didn't swell shut again.  I didn't go to the doctor, because Alan didn't think our insurance would cover it.  Thankfully I healed completely with no permanent damage!

 My daily headshots.

 

 

 When I got home, and went to my oncologist for an appointment, his mouth dropped open and he put his arms out and mouthed "what" as he walked down the hall with another patient.  He agreed that the fall probably had nothing to do with my cancer in the brain.

This was the last picture that I took as a record of my injured face.  It was in September.  Thankfully my face is completely healed now.  I was very blessed through the whole trauma, and I was humble enough that I didn't let it keep me hiding at home. Too much life to live, and who knows how much time to live it?  I think losing my hair twice in the past year and half has gotten rid of my vanity, so it is all good.  :)