Banged Up and Bruised (Pic Added)

The day started off normal. I woke to the alarm, shut it off in a half asleep daze and fell back to sleep. I awoke two hours later to the phone ringing. It was my husband making sure I had gotten up. Of course, I told him I was up, because by the time I answered the phone, I was technically "up". The rest of the day was on schedule...course work online, laundry, cleaning house in between submission of assignments, yada yada.  It wasn't until the children got off the school bus that my day took a turn for the worse.

My son went to get a snack out of the fridge and noticed that we were out of milk, which is definitely a staple in my house. So, after going over their school papers and attending to their homework, we were off to the grocery store. We never made it.  Instead, we ended up in the middle of the road after being hit by an oncoming car. It wasn't the other driver's fault, nor was it my own. The little gravel road we live off of is on a slant downhill and the pull off to the highway is in a precarious place. The adjoining highway road has a little dip in the hill, which becomes a blind spot and from my side of the road, makes it hard to see any oncoming traffic. I usually look, look again and then slowly inch out and look again. This time, the blind spot won and I didn't even see the car that hit me until it was too late. It was slow motion and fast forward all at the same time. I seen him coming toward me, I seen the color red and then I seen the grill of his car. That's all I remember. I do know that as soon as our van came to a stop, my hand immediately went to my head as the pain was intense. I apparently smacked my head against the window, although I don't remember doing it.  My first instant was to get out and check on my children who were in the middle seats of the van. I NEVER want to have that sinking feeling again, as I turned around, hoping and praying that they were okay. It was the first accident I had ever been in with the children in the vehicle.

Thank the Lord, they were fine. A bit shaken up, but alive...and without signs of injury. I wanted to get them out of the car and onto the side of the road. My biggest fear was that someone coming from another direction might not be able to stop in time and end up hitting the vehicle again (I've watched COPS where this happens all the time) and I didn't want the children in the vehicle if this were to happen. Luckily it did not. The gentleman in the car that hit me was pretty banged up as his air bags had deployed and he had lacerations on his chest and hand. We managed to call for help and I was able to call my husband (thanks to the friendly truck driver that stopped and helped direct traffic until the police showed) and it wasn't long before the ambulance and fire department arrived.

I felt some pain in my stomach, head and leg so they took me to the ambulance to check me over. Since my blood pressure was off the chart and because of the abdomen pain, the paramedic thought it would be in my best interest to go to the hospital to get everything checked out. It was my first ever ride in the back of an ambulance. I hope to never have to do it again.  My husband took the children to his parents and met me later at the hospital. They did x-rays, CT scans and such, assuring that my pain was nothing serious in nature, and after about six hours, they let me go home. I am still having pain...mainly in my abdomen and head and if it doesn't get better in a few days, I'm supposed to get rechecked.  I refused the pain medication...a decision I might regret in the morning, as I hope my body's natural endorphins will kick in and save me the nausea of the commonly prescribed pain medications.

I hope to get some photos tomorrow of our van. My husband says the wreck completely knocked one of the tires off and that they feared the front axle had been busted. Not sure yet if it will be considered "totaled", but hope to go see it in the AM to access the damage. The children are still at the grandparents house, doing fine,  and we have decided to let them stay home from school tomorrow as I am uncertain if their little muscles will be tight and sore in the morning as well. Plus, it will give them an opportunity to discuss the accident and hopefully overcome any fears or concerns associated with it.

Hopefully, I can get some pictures to share.  But for now, I am going to go get my bag of frozen peas and place it on my swollen leg and another on my aching head and call it a day. Until next time...

UPDATE: Pics of the wrecked vehicles. The green van is mine and the red car the one that hit me. A little sore today...(okay, a lot sore), but still feel blessed that it wasn't a lot worse!

Posted in: *Life*