A God of Miracles

It's taken me a little while to write this post.  It's personal and was hard to write, but I felt like I needed to.  This is a long post, and it's mostly just for me, but I feel the need to share my testimony of miracles.  I was going to on Fast Sunday, but we were in Nathan's brother's ward for his baby's blessing and I have a hard enough time standing in front of people I know.  So, I'm going to share it on my blog. 

Last Tuesday, my testimony of miracles was strengthened.  I know that Heavenly Father can do anything and he has the ability to heal, but I felt it very personally.  I was down in my living room and heard a thump from upstairs.  Owen and Zoey are known to fight and sometimes I just have to let them work it out.  I listened for a minute and didn't hear any crying, so I continued on with what I was doing.  About a minute later, I hear a panicked Owen calling me, telling me that Zona had fallen off her bed (the top bunk).  I still wasn't super concerned.  How many times had I fallen off my bed?  One of my sisters had even landed on a rocking chair and still not been hurt very bad.  I was all ready to comfort, kiss hurts, and continue on with the day.  I saw her coming out of the bedroom.  See?  Walking and fine.  She was crying, pretty hard, but she is known to be dramatic.  So, I picked her up and carried her downstairs to sit on the couch.  I was trying to get her to calm down and she wouldn't (couldn't?).  She said that it hurt to breathe.  I was sure it was because she wouldn't calm down.  Owen mentioned something about her trying to climb up in the net they keep their stuffed animals in.  When I asked Zona, she said she was trying to sit in it.  I later saw that she had pulled one of the screws out of the wall and the stuffed animals were all over the floor.  After talking to her, I started reading her a book to try and get her mind off of what happened and to try and get her to calm down.  After a few pages, there was a picture.  She said she couldn't see the picture.  I was sure it was because she had been crying and had tears in her eyes.  I kept reading to her. 

A few minutes later, Nathan came home.  The kids were eager to tell Nathan what had happened.  He took her from me and decided to assess her.  He got out his EMT bag and took her vitals.  Then he went up in the bedroom and shut the door.  Jo was getting ready to go to with a neighbor and I was trying to do other things, so I let Nathan take care of her.  I got Jo out the door and went upstairs.  Nathan asked me if I knew she couldn't see.  I mentioned what happened with the book.  Then we started asking her who people were in the room.  She named Nathan and me, but squinted as she looked at Owen.  She couldn't tell who he was.  Nathan scooped her up and told me he was taking her to Community Care.  As he was putting her in the car, he handed her her ducky.  She couldn't tell what it was.

Owen and I were concerned and came inside to say a prayer.  I then called our parents and siblings to let them know what was going on and to ask them to pray for Zona.  I also posted on facebook to keep people updated on what was going on.  My mom and Nathan's mom called Zoey's name into the temple prayer rolls. 

Nathan called on the way to the doctor to tell me that Zoey was having a hard time staying conscious and he was taking her straight to the emergency room.  He later told me that he kept doing sternal rubs on her to try and keep her awake.  She would be holding ducky and ask where ducky was.  As he turned on to the street the hospital was, he looked over and Zoey's face was drooping and her had was twitching and at an unusual angle.  He said it reminded him of someone with cerebral palsy.  He was VERY concerned.  When they got to the hospital, he said they didn't have to wait at all in the emergency room.  Once they got back in a room, Zoey started throwing up.  The staff told him to let her go to sleep to see if it would calm her down.  Every time she woke up, he would try to assess her so he could give information to the doctor when he came.  One time, he asked who she was, and she answered, "Zona."  Then he asked who he was, and she looked at him for a minute and said, "Someone."  She wasn't sure who Nathan was. 

The doctor told Nathan that he wanted to do a CT scan and see what was going on.  About that time, Nathan gave Zona a blessing.  Zoey started to come out of it and wasn't excited about doing the scan, but Nathan says she did a great job and did everything they told her to do.

When the results came back, the doctor said that there was no sign of trauma, no fracture, or anything to be concerned about.  He said that she could do anything she felt like.  He said she would probably have a headache for a while, even up to a few weeks, and might be nauseous the next day.  She stayed home from school on Wednesday, but was SO excited to go back to school the next day.  It was the first thing she said when she woke up.  I gave her ibuprofen for a few days, but she only complained about her head a few times and her neck once or twice.  She threw up on the way home, and that was the last time.

She was a little more cautious for a few days, but not anymore.  We can also see little things that are a different.  She takes a little longer to figure out things that used to come so quickly.  And she seems a little disoriented some times.  She has told us the same story over again a few times.  But after seeing what happened in just a few short hours, we are very grateful to have our happy, fun little girl back. 

I am so grateful that it was just a concussion.  With all of the symptoms, it could have been so much worse.  They could have had to do more drastic measures to relieve pressure on her brain.  I'm so grateful that the doctors didn't see anything to concern them.  I'm grateful that she is healing and healthy.  I really do feel like we had a miracle in our family. 

I'm also grateful that if this had to happen, it happened when we were still covered by Nathan's old job's insurance and before the month started when we would be un-insured before his new job's insurance kicked in.  I'm grateful that I didn't realize how bad it was until Nathan got home.  Usually I'm the one that thinks of the worst thing it could be.  I didn't this time.  It didn't even cross my mind until after Nathan assessed her.  I'm also grateful he came home soon after it happened.  He is much more level-headed, plus he's an EMT.  I'm grateful he was the one that took her in.  He was able to decide to take her straight to the emergency room, talk to the doctor on a good level, and make good level-headed decisions.  As much as I would have loved to be with her, I'm also grateful Nathan was able to focus on her, while I focused on our other kids (who were having a very hard time) and made sure they were okay and updated.  I know I could have handled it before he got home, but I'm grateful I didn't have to.  I'm also VERY grateful for where I live.  I love the people that live around me.  On Tuesday, I was having a hard time that I didn't live close to my family, but my friends and neighbors called, commented on facebook, and stopped me in my yard to see how we were doing.  They were concerned and I felt very loved.

I'm not grateful for this situation, but I am grateful for the things I learned in just a few hours.  I'm grateful my testimony was strengthened of miracles and of a Heavenly Father who loves us and is very aware of us.  I'm grateful for friends, neighbors, and family who love and support.  I'm grateful for a level-headed husband and a brave little girl.  I'm grateful for a patient first grade teacher.  And I'm grateful that I can appreciate her fun, bubbly, energetic personality more.