2 BIG things

I feel like for the past couple of months, my body has taken a hit!

It started on Labor Day when I decided to tackle this eye sore in our back yard. When we built our house almost 8 years ago, there were leftover bricks and we left them here (it's basically in line with our driveway, so it's in plain view- YUCK!). We thought maybe we'd build a mailbox, a fire pit, or something....but that hasn't happened. The straps have rotted and there's only one way to move this massive pile. Yes, one. by. one. 

Not sure if you can really see it, but that's our storage shed. Seth and I bought pavers and created a base for the bricks and I moved that entire pile behind the storage shed. 

Thank goodness for Brenda's gator!

SO much better! This whole task took me about 5 days. I would just chip away at it for a couple hours each day. The bricks aren't heavy, but that constant motion and using back muscles really took its toll. For weeks, my back was so jacked up! I could barely work out! :( 

And JUST as my back was starting to feel normal, I had a crazy episode! On September 23rd, Seth and I ate dinner with some friends. We came home and just watched tv. I could feel a little migraine coming on (I get them occasionally but they're not bad and can be controlled with Tylenol). I was having the blurred vision that indicates a migraine is on its way. I told Seth I was turning in. He was letting the dogs out and I headed to our bathroom to get ready for bed. That's about the last thing I remember! 

I vaguely remember Seth saying, "You bumped your head, you're fine" and the ambulance doors closing. I clearly remember everything from the ER moving forward. 

Seth found me in a pool of blood (on our slate bathroom floor) unconscious. He called 911 and the friends we had dinner with to come watch the kids (thank you, Andrew and Melissa!). I had a CT scan and they sent me home around 2 a.m. with a concussion and referral to a neurologist. 

We still aren't sure exactly what happened? Did I just black out? Have a seizure? My left shoulder is very sore from landing on it and I bit my tongue so hard that it was tingly and numb for 3 weeks. The blood was from a tiny cut on my head....not even the source of the problem, but definitely what scared Seth. 

I spent Saturday with my head wrapped up. Concussions are no joke! I was so tired and foggy. 

The ER doctor told me that gravity would unfortunately pull that goose egg down my face and that's what started to happen on Sunday. You can see that the place that I cut my head was not that big!

As the week went on, the bruising got darker. I looked alike a plastic surgery patient gone bad! This all happened on Friday evening. My mom ended up flying in to help me on Monday. The concussion really wore me out and of course, the kids had fall break that week and Seth was at Road Atlanta the bulk of the week (last race of the season). I am so thankful for my mom being there! She took the kids places and helped around the house.

This is my face one week later. This was right before I was headed to the neurologist and ended up missing half of Seth's race. BUT, this was the ONLY time he could get me in. At the appointment, he suggested an MRI and EEG to dig a little deeper. He also said I couldn't drive until further notice. What? I have 2 young kids!! Agh! I already hadn't been driving with the concussion (my mom had been taking us everywhere). 

Dan, Seth's co-driver, had been in town since Monday and his super sweet wife Crystal flew in Thursday evening. We made shopping trip to the outlets and had fun buying matching pants :)

I also had my friend Heather in town from London for one night. We have been friends since 7th grade! LOVE this girl and hate that her visit was under such strange circumstances!

Her daughter Madison and my kids had fun playing with this box! :)

I was glad to have these fun distractions!

It took 2 weeks to get the MRI and EEG done and then I had my follow up appointment with the neurologist October 20th, almost a month after the incident. I have the sweetest friends and family! I had to have people take James to/from school and get both kids to their activities.
Seth went with me to the appointment and the neurologist basically confirmed that they don't know what happened. There's no way of knowing if it was a seizure, as nobody saw it and I didn't have one during the 25 minute EEG. All tests came back normal, praise the Lord! They have ruled out everything they can think of. They said if I ever feel a migraine come on, just crawl around the house :). I am so glad to put this behind me, and I am thankful that everything is ok.