Repaying the favor

I have yet to tell this story here, because I always just assume that everyone has already heard it. It is such a big part of who we are, that I make sure to tell everyone who will listen. In fact, I am currently in the process of writing a book about it. That's no joke.

Something amazing happened yesterday, and I was really excited to blog about it. After starting to write the post about said event, I realized that you wouldn't understand it's significance to us because you didn't know this story yet. There are a select few of you who already know what I am about to say, so feel free to skip forward to the end, and only read the part about what happened yesterday. If you don't know this story though, I encourage you to read it, because it truly is amazing. I will try to keep it as short as I can!

April 15, 2005 was a day that forever changed our lives. Brett was out riding his dirt bike, as he usually did on his days off, and I was at work. About two hours into my shift Lloyd {my father in law} showed up, and wanted to talk to me. I was just finishing up a haircut, and told him I would be right with him. I knew something was wrong, I could just tell. The rest of the haircut seemed like it was taking forever, and I was freaking out inside. The worst possible thoughts were running through my mind. I was sure that someone had died.

When I was finally done, and went out to talk to him, he told me that Brett had been in an accident on his dirt bike. I have to be honest with you, I was relieved at first. Brett wrecked his bike all the time, and he was always okay. So I thought that this wreck would be the same as usual, a broken bone that would be better in six weeks or so. I was wrong. He told me that it was bad, and we needed to leave immediately.

Brett was taken by ambulance to the American Fork hospital, but the injuries were too severe for them to treat. He had to be taken to the University of Utah Hospital via Life Flight. After the family had arrived at the hospital it was about six hours before we were told what was going on. I was able to go back with Brett's sister and see him for just a few minutes, but that was all.

His injuries included a broken neck, two lower spinal fractures, and the right side of his pelvis was shattered. It was bad. The doctor told us that he only had a 10% chance of making it through the night, and that we should say our goodbyes. They also told us that if he did live, he would be paralyzed from the neck down. I was terrified. We had only been married for eleven months. Here I was, 20 years old, just shy of my first wedding anniversary, and I was being told that my husband was most likely going to die.

It was the longest night of my life. Me, Gwen {my mother in law}, and Ryan {my brother in law} took turns sitting with Brett in his room, while the other two tried to get some sleep. In the morning Brett woke up and we were all so happy, although we still had the terrible feeling that paralysis was inevitable. It didn't matter though, because he was alive! About ten minutes later he said four words that I will never forget... "my toes are cold."

I couldn't believe it! He wasn't paralyzed after all. The doctor came in and confirmed it, while the nurse found him a warm blanket to wrap his feet in. Everyone was instantly relieved, and we knew that everything was going to be alright. The next 48 hours were the hardest on Brett. He had to have surgery to fuse the bones in his neck back together, and then had to have his hip completely reconstructed. Having two major surgeries in a 24 hour time period caused him to loose a lot of blood. His body wasn't regenerating blood cells fast enough, so they had to give him a blood transfusion. It was a long process, and he ended up receiving 5 pints of donor blood. Shortly after he received his blood transfusion, one of the things that the doctor told us was that Brett would never be able to give blood again. That bummed him out. He had tried to give blood a few times before, but was always told that he couldn't because his tattoo's were too fresh. So to be told that he could never give blood, made him upset. Especially because now he had received blood, and couldn't return the favor to someone else.

He only spent a total of about two and a half weeks in the hospital before they sent him home. His recovery was a long painful road full of hospital visits, blood draws, pain meds, and no sleep. He still suffers from pain related to the accident on a daily basis, and the scars are a constant reminder of the entire process.

I am so grateful to have him here with me still, and I can't wait to get the whole detailed story written down. I promise, there is a lot more to it that that!

Fast forward to last night.....

There was a blood drive in our neighborhood, hosted by the American Red Cross. Kristi {Brett's sister} went down to do her donation, and while she was there she found out that things have changed in the four years since Brett's accident. There is a new rule for people who have received blood transfusions. They can in fact give blood, they just have to wait one year first.

Last night my husband did something that we thought he would never be able to do. He gave blood for the first time. Yahoo!

I wish I could say that I was brave enough to follow through with it, but I was not. Hopefully someday I will overcome my fear of needles.

Have you ever given blood?

For the love of the game

Brett played three basketball games on Saturday. Two of which were pretty brutal. When he came home in between the second and third games he had to take a few minutes to ice down his joints. If you notice in the picture above: He had jammed his finger really bad in the second game, so he had that hand soaking in a cup of ice water to reduce the swelling. Both of his knees were really bothering him, so he was icing them down by hand. His ankle was also bothering him, so he had an ice pack on that too! Poor guy. Then he got up and went to play another game, leading his team to a victory for first place in the championship. This week he does it all again for regionals. At least the next three games are spanned over three days, and not consecutive on one day.

Good luck Brett!

All Is Well

Everything went very well with Brett's surgeries on Wednesday! They got all of the necessary repairs made, and he is well on his way to a healthy body......any bets on how long that will last? =)
Before they took him into the operating room they made him right 'YES' on the parts that needed to be fixed, I guess doctors get confused easily and don't want a lawsuit:


Here he is anxiously awaiting the Anesthesiologist's arrival:

Since he's been home he has actually been following the rules surprisingly well (for Brett anyway) He is using a wheelchair that we borrowed from my grandparents to get around the house, and stays laying down with both legs elevated most of the time. Belle is really good at keeping him company:



Here is a funny picture we took of Belle! This is the kind of idea you get when you are on heavy pain killers, she's a good sport:

Thanks to everyone for all of your support, and a special thanks to Mom, Gwen, and Lloyd for being at the hospital with me to keep me sane.....I don't know how many more of these surgeries I can wait through. So hopefully Brett will have learned his lesson this time......but really, who am I kidding?

Big Day Tomorrow

Remember This? Well, tomorrow Brett is having it fixed! =)


He is going in tomorrow for surgery on his Right Ankle to fix the tendons and clean up all of the scar tissue from when he sprained his ankle a few months ago playing Basketball, but that's not all. He is also having surgery on his Left Knee to fix the jumpers knee that he has had for a while, too! Fun, right? His Right Ankle and Left Knee both on the same day, bet you're jealous!


So if you were one of the 6 people who guessed 'Knee' or 'Ankle' on our poll (see side bar) then you were right! Good Job. For the 4 of you who guessed 'Brain', better luck next time.

I'll be posting updates soon, so check back to see how things go tomorrow. I'm positive that we will have some fun pictures. It's going to be an adventure, I'm sure, but with Brett it always is!

What Luck!!

Oops I did it again. I was out long boarding with my bro (Ryan). We just finished a huge run that took over a half hour. Well we picked up our boards and started walking to our car when I stepped on the side of the side walk and my crappy ankle went out. Ryan laughed because it did not look that bad. Well when I told him I could not walk and he needed to go grab the car he was shocked. Ryan sent me a text saying that's what you get for participating in such high risk sports as walking. Funny Huh? So here is the pics of my ankle when I first hurt it playing basketball and when I just hurt it walking.

This the first time I sprained my ankle playing basketball.

This is what happens when I walk

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