Sunday morning, my husband and children left our home at 7am to make a trip to Six Flags near St. Louis. I decided to stay home since I am not much on doing the rides at Six Flags. I attended Homecoming at my Mom and Dad's church. Our own church would be starting at 4pm that evening, so I decided to leave the Homecoming at 2:30pm.
By the time, I left and started down the road it was about 2:40pm. Realizing it had been awhile since I looked at my phone, I reached for it in my purse and pulled it out. There were several missed calls (beginning at 2:25pm) from my brother in law who was with Tom and the kids, my mother in law, my daughter, and my sister. Then a text message popped up from another brother in law telling me to call my mother in law as soon as possible. My first thought was that something happened to my husband. I think this thought came because there were no missed calls from him. Later I realized he had not taken his phone.
I quickly called my mother in law. She was upset and broke the news to me carefully that Bradley hurt his back on a ride and was being taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. She was crying and I also began to cry expecting the worse. A lot of "What ifs?" quickly came to mind. Not being far from the church, I decided to turn back. The Homecoming service was still going on, but I walked in, knelt beside my mother and in tears I told her Bradley had hurt his back on a ride and was being taken by ambulance to the ER. My mother stood up and let the church know after my sister finished the solo that I had walked in on. My dad said a prayer before my sister and I left. We were going to make the 2 1/2 hour trip to the hospital. After we had left and the service ended, another prayer was said with everyone in a circle holding hands.
It took some time, before we actually got in our cars and left because of phone calls and developing plans to get there. My daughter had called to let me know more about what was happening. There were some things she didn't know since only Tom could go to First Aid with Bradley. They finally found First Aid and found out that Bradley was being transported to the ER by ambulance. Stephanie and her uncles were very concerned about Bradley. I also had to call my other sister to ask her to pick up the main dish I had prepared for our after worship dinner. I spoke to another of our church members and she said a prayer over the phone. There was a lot of praying going on.
Once we finally got on the road, my husband called on my daughter's phone and told me they were at the hospital and Bradley's condition had improved drastically and he was able to laugh and be in good spirits. They were waiting to see the docttor and waiting for X-rays to be taken. He told me Bradley had walked since the incident and he was laughing and in good spirits. He said it would be best if I just waited to see how the X-rays turned out and what the doctor said. I agreed to wait it out. It was so hard waiting, even knowing that Bradley had walked and was laughing by then.
Finally around 5pm, we got the news that Bradley's X-ray was clear and he was being discharged. It was such a relief and I felt it was an answer to prayer. Tom also told me the doctor said there were no signs of old compression fractures. I was puzzled, was this just something they missed or was this a miracle? I still don't know. I do plan to get a CD of the X-rays for his next trip to Cincinnati.
Once Tom and the kids made it home after 9pm, and we were getting ready for bed, Tom told me everything that happened. Bradley's had felt something pop in his back half way through the ride and it was extremely painful. When the ride stopped he had a terrible look on his face. It was one of intense pain and fear. First Tom told him he would need to stand up and get out of the seat but he said it hurt too much to move. He finally stood but Tom had to lift him to get him out of the Screaming Eagle Seat. Bradley actually did walk but his back was bent forward and he was very short of breath. He said it hurt really bad to breath. He walked over to a wall and stood there allowing the wall to support him. The attendants for the ride called First Aid to the scene. They had to help Bradley down a bunch of steps and Bradley said that was very painful. They put him on a board and took him to the First Aid center, then an ambulance was called and he was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Once he got to the hospital, he was doing a lot better. Tom said it was around 2pm when the incident occurred.
I am so glad Bradley is okay. It was a very scary ordeal. Initially, the unknown caused great fear and emotion. Bradley has been gifted with the ability to walk far longer than expected with his DMD. Anything could set him back and at first I really thought this would be the end of his walking days. But God continues to work and amaze us in this area.
We did take Bradley to the doctor this morning because we were told to follow up with a doctor. Also he is still sore, but this will probably continue for a couple of weeks. The doctor said she would order a muscle relaxer for an adult but it would not be appropriate for his age. She said to contiinue ibuprofen but it could be given every 6 hours.
Bradley also had an opthalmologist appointment today to check his cataracts. I was happy to hear his cataracts have not worsened this time. His vision has changed but we just had to get him new glasses. My new VSP vision plan really helped a lot on the cost of everything. I had almost forgotten about the policy effective January, 2012. We only had to pay $93 and I used my Flex Spending card to cover that. Last year, we paid almost $300 for his glasses and the vision exam. Then the medical part (follow up on the cataracts) went through his medical insurance last time.
I am really looking forward to Friday. Tom and I will be celebrating our 21st Wedding Anniversary! We plan to go out for dinner at Lone Star Steak House and to see a movie. I am going to leave an hour early from work.
Saturday, we will be going to Spring Fest in Alto Pass. Tom is going to be volunteering in the dunking booth. That should be fun to see!! The kids and I will just walk around, see people in the community, and check out the vender tables.
We will be having an all day church retreat on Sunday at the House Church we attend. We will have a few sessions, worship, fellowship, and enjoy the food. We plan to have a cookout at the end.
Monday will be Memorial Day. We will be remembering the men and women who have served our country, those who have died and served for our freedoms, and those who are currently serving. Thank you to all those who have served and sacrificed for our country!
