We
had been without electricity for 3 days due to the weather, and earlier in the
day we ran a generator out in the front driveway/edge of our garage (we had the
garage door open, windows in garage open, etc.) The fire chief later told
us that since it was so cold and there was no wind that the gas probably just
settled instead of blowing away and just crept back into the house via the
eaves.
Taylor and I had gone to bed
in our respective bedrooms and she told us later that SOMEONE called
her name and she was trying to get up to see who it was...she got up, shimmied
up her wall, then collapsed at the edge of her bedroom. The thud of her
falling is what woke me up. Charlie (her dad, and my ex-husband) heard this as
well from the living room and he and I went to the hallway to see what it was
and found her lying lifeless on her face. We couldn't get her to respond
at all to us and Charlie sent me for a flashlight that was by my bed. On
my way to the bedroom I started feeling like something was not right with me
either. I got the flashlight, and started running back to the
hall so I could get to Charlie to let him know I wasn't ok. I knew if I
collapsed in the bedroom he wouldn’t know to come for me and I had to get to
him so he would know I was sick. The closer I got
to them the further away I felt like I was getting. Everything was
spinning out of control. When I turned the corner to the hallway I
collapsed face first without any hands/arms to brace me, falling onto the metal
flashlight cutting my forehead to the bone. Charlie had to search in the dark
for the flashlight as it had rolled when I fell and I told him I felt blood
running down my face. He found the flashlight and looked and said he
had to get me to the hospital! I said, “What is wrong with Taylor,
doesn’t she need to go?” Taylor meanwhile was in and out of
consciousness. He was able to get her awake and told her she had to go
get a towel to put on my head to help with the bleeding until help got
there. My head began to pulse blood out of control. When she
brought it back, she then went back unconscious not far from me and Charlie had
to drag her over and prop her on top of me, against the wall as I was having
convulsions and banging my face into the concrete floor. My eyes were
rolling back in my head, and Charlie was yelling that I WASN’T GOING TO DIE ON
HIM!
Charlie called 911 and first
to respond were the police. Immediately upon entering they looked for the
lights and Charlie told them we were without power. They used their
flashlights and on first site was my blood, bloody handprints in my hallway
where I tried to stand upon falling and Charlie had it on him.
Immediately they began accusing Charlie of a crime, etc…and he began explaining
what had transpired. Shortly thereafter the fire department arrived, and
luckily Charlie knew one of the firemen who came to his defense. The fire
chief began asking questions as to what we had done earlier in the day to maybe
put some of the pieces together as to what had happened. He told of the
generator use and immediately the fire chief went to the truck to get the
carbon monoxide detector. The truck was parked at the street and within
steps of entering our driveway the detector began to “freak out”, so much that
the chief went back to the truck to recalibrate the devise as he was not
believing the high readings. Once again, walking in the driveway up to
our front door the readings on the devise began to creep higher and
higher. Upon reaching the door the chief called for his crew to exit the
home and began to get Charlie, Taylor and our dogs out as well. A couple
of paramedics were left inside with me to get me stable enough for transport to
the hospital. Once outside, they realized that Taylor had “started” this
whole incident and the firemen told Charlie they wanted her checked out as
well. I left by ambulance and Charlie and Taylor in his truck.
Several firemen stayed at our home to open windows and stay and watch our dogs
for sickness and make sure they were in a safe place before leaving. Way beyond the call of duty. Once
at Mansfield Methodist they checked mine and Taylor’s blood gases and they were
“through the roof”, hers being much higher than mine. Mansfield Methodist
was not prepared or skilled to handle emergencies such as ours and they began
preparing us to be transported to Dallas Methodist to get in the hyperbaric
chamber. (In an ambulance, on the ice) First my head had to be
stitched up, 15 stitches and I had to have a CT to make sure I was transportable.
Off we went, Taylor and me in the ambulance, her sitting with oxygen on and me
on a stretcher with oxygen on. Somewhere along the way my oxygen ran out
and the face mask adhered to my face, not a fun experience. The
paramedics were wonderful! Upon arriving at Dallas Methodist they began
to explain to me the procedures for going into the hyperbaric chamber, (all of
this I am trying to comprehend while the carbon monoxide is still
doing damage to my brain!) I must add that at some time after our arrival
we found out that the FAMILY that had just been in the chamber all
died, except the father!! Not comforting! Taylor and I
are both very claustrophobic, but we survived after our approximate 3 hour stay
in the Hyperbaric Chamber. (Taylor was such a trooper, as they had a very
difficult time getting her to the depth that we needed to be to be successful)
Two ambulance rides, one CT Scan, two bloodgases, two hyperbaric chambers,
fifteen stitches and one concussion later, WE SURVIVED! Nothing says I LOVE YOU like a brain injury
on VALENTINE’S DAY (02142010)
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