Sooo much to say.

Everyone who reads this already knows about this but since I'm using my blog as a sort of journal I'll write anyway.

May 8, Jacob went to preschool and then stayed after for a birthday party. When he got there his teacher asked if he was allowed to swim and I told her that he's not a real strong swimmer yet so he needed either a life vest or someone to help out. She has life vests so she promised to make him wear one. I felt fine with that so I said he could swim.

About 3:00 that afternoon, I got a call. "Nanette, there's been an accident. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" at this point, I'm just thinking he's hurt himself and I'll have to go pick him up early (a little annoyed that I'll have to wake Daniel up early from his nap). "Jacob was just pulled from the bottom of the pool and he's not breathing. He has a pulse but Shawn (Varney) is giving him rescue breaths and the EMTs are on their way. You need to speak to the police officer right now." (this was not what I expected nor ever wanted to hear on the other end of the phone). The police officer told me again what happened and then asked how long before I could SAFELY get to the house. I would have to wait a few minutes for my neighbor to get home from picking up her daughter at school (so she could watch Daniel and Abigail) and then I could leave so I told him 20 minutes. He then said that the EMTs would have come and taken him to the hospital by then so I should wait at home and he would call to let me know which hospital to meet them at.

I didn't want to do that but even more I didn't want Daniel and Abigail to see the scene at the pool so I decided to wait at home. I, of course called Fred immediately and told him what happened so now we both felt helpless and in total limbo. I tried calling my dad but kept getting bumped straight to his voicemail so finally I left a message (I really didn't want to have to do that). I called Cristi at least 2 more times just to get an update on things. Jacob wasn't breathing but still had a pulse, Jacob was breathing and screaming as the emts worked on him, Jacob will be going to the hospital soon but still no info on where... I saw that Angie Pruitt was home so I ran across the street and told her what happened and asked her to watch the kids. Still waiting for the call - where to go to see my baby... talked to Fred on the phone several times with no news... call my home teacher -Ryan Hooley (who just happens to work half days on Fridays) to meet Fred at the hospital to give Jacob a blessing...

Finally, around 4:00 the police officer calls and says they've just landed the life-flight helicopter and will be taking him to University Hospital. I immediately call Fred - he works about a mile away from there and could make it before me of course. He flies out of the office and I leave, asking Angie to please let the Relief Society president know so she can check on Cristi. I call the school and tell them I'm picking up Isabelle early then we get on the road. It's after four o'clock on a friday afternoon so traffic is not so great... On my way I call my sisters to tell them the news. One is home and I tell her, the other isn't so I give a basic message to her daughter, "Jacob's had an accident and is in the hospital". I get there and it's packed! University Hospital is the county hospital so it serves the poor, indigent, uninsured and prisoners. It also is the medical school's teaching hospital. Fred, Ryan & Melissa Hooley and Jeremy Pruitt have all beaten me there, they've already given him a blessing and the hospital staff takes me back immediately.

Jacob is lying there unconscious with his arms tied down and a breathing tube down his throat. He looks so small and fragile. At some point, he had been breathing on his own but isn't anymore so the machine is doing it for him. It looks so surreal. I feel like someone punched me in the stomach. I almost can't walk. The doctors and nurses keep telling me things about his condition, asking questions about his health history, etc. I don't really remember all they said and at this point I don't think it matters! He keeps waking up, trying to cry and take the tube out. He looks so scared and yet not really all the way there. It kills me to see it. I go out to get Isabelle because they only allow two visitors at a time and notice that our Elder's quorum president (David Kimball) has shown up. This is pretty amazing because he's a vice-president at a bank and going through alot of difficult stuff that keeps him at work around 15 hours a day (usually more). At this point all I can think of (besides Jacob) is how Cristi is doing. He says that people are trying to contact her but she's not answering her phone so they're sending someone over to check on her.

The ER, as I said earlier, is the county hospital so there are police everywhere and prisoners handcuffed to railings on the wall. There are people with open wounds in their heads and sick people littering the hallways so I'm thrilled when around 6:30 they take us up to the PICU. They get us settled and the doctor talks to us again (stuff I still don't remember!) then ask us to step out so they can do an assessment on Jacob (I guess it can be upsetting to parents to watch some of the stuff they do?). We do and just at that moment, walking in to check on us is the Relief Society presidency (Tracy Gudmundson, Sara Kimball and Suzanne Bergen). Three women who are busy with career and family brought us blankets, snacks, a toy for Jacob and a book to write in. I know that I would drop everything to help someone in need but it means so much to me that so many would do it for us.

We're able to go back in within just a few minutes and the nurse, again starts asking all kinds of questions which actually gives us a missionary opportunity when she asks about our religion. I don't know if it will ever go farther but at least we hopefully planted a seed. We decide I'll stay the night and Fred will sleep at home to hopefully give the kids some little bit of stability so the nurse shows the way to the parents sleeping room. Then Fred and I just sit and wait. We watch all the machines - checking blood oxygen levels, breathing for him, monitoring his heart, you name it. He even has a tube in his stomach because he's vomited several times (he was at a party = lots of food!) and they want to get out as much that's left as possible so he doesn't keep doing that. Apparently when he vomited, he aspirated some of it and that's not a good thing. I learn later that because of that they were really worried he'd get pneumonia.

I keep trying to call my Dad and AnneMarie without much luck. I leave a message on her cell phone but nothing more on his. Fred calls Carl and we talk for a while. I mention that I can't reach my dad and Carl gets an idea "He's been writing updates on facebook throughout their ride so I'll check it out". I thank Carl and we hang up and go back to our watch and wait positions.

Finally around 11:00 Fred decides to go home and I'll go to sleep. Of course, I just lay there worrying. Then I get a text from AnneMarie, she's in Hawaii and didn't get her messages because they have spotty cell service out there so she's trying to figure out what's going on. We spend the next hour or so texting back and forth about the situation. I'm actually grateful for the distraction and by the time we're done I'm actually tired.

I sleep about 4 hours, which is way more than I expected, so I figure that's pretty good. I go in to see Jacob and it's all the same as before. Machine breathing for him almost 100% of the time. The doctors are concerned because they can't get him to respond to simple commands. I remember the nurse saying they were giving him different meds to keep him sedated and out of pain so I ask about that but they say he should still be able to respond to commands such as "squeeze my hand" etc.

Fred calls and tells me that he and Carl did research based on facebook & blog comments Dad & Georgia made and they've located him. Fred already called Georgia and told her but I need to talk to Dad so I call the number he gives me. Turns out that there is no cell service in the town they were staying so we had to call the hotel to contact him. I tell him all I know and we sit on the phone and cry. I promise to keep him updated and get off the phone so I can call others.

Fred comes in around 10:00 and I go home to help Isabelle - it's prom and she wants to go still. Melissa comes over to do her hair and I keep working on last minute details with her dress. Two different families brought us dinner last night so we're good on food (if nothing else, we Mormons know how to feed people!). The day flies by and suddenly it's time to take Isabelle and Adam to the dance. I drop them off and then back to the hospital. During the day Jacob has gone from completely unconscious to awake and responding to commands. Not only that but he is breathing 100% on his own and has had the breathing tube removed. Fred and I are elated but cautioned that there is a long road ahead.

It's Angie and Jeremy's anniversary and they've been out to eat so they come by with some pie and get to visit for just a minute with Jacob. He's pretty out of it still and just wants me to hold him alot. Fred leaves at the same time they do since it's pretty late and we've been having Melissa watch kids for a while.

Since he's not on the machines anymore, I get to sleep in the room with Jacob. It's so uncomfortable but I get to be right there and hold his hand all night so there's no place else I'd be. He wakes up a few times during the night and I'm glad I'm there so he's not as afraid.

Sunday morning, Fred comes in around 9:30. before I go home to shower and maybe take a little nap, we talk to the doctors. They tell us that MAYBE they can get him into a transitional room that afternoon but that he would have to stay at the hospital at least 48 hours after he goes into one. He has to stay in the transitional room (not as high maintenance as ICU but more than a regular room) for at least 24 hours, then he has to be transferred to a regular room for at least another 24 hours.

I figure I'll drop Isabelle, Abigail and Daniel off at church and then go home to rest. At the last minute, I decide I'll go to church since I probably won't sleep anyway so (unshowered) I throw on some clothes and we go. We get there well into Sacrament Meeting so we just stand up in back. Afterwards, of course it's a barrage of questions and all I can tell them is he's doing okay but no promises as to long term effects, etc. I finally see Cristi and get to talk to her where she clears up alot of questions for me. They announce his accident in Relief Society and send around a food/babysitting sign up sheet.

At about 1:30 I get a text from Fred "Jacob's well enough to go home, they can't keep him here any longer he's doing so well. Come get us." Wow! a few hours ago they're saying BEST case scenario he'd go home Tuesday afternoon and now they can't do anything more for him! I let Sara know about it and she announces at the end of RS that he's coming home. I send Abby & Daniel home with the Bergen's then Isabelle and I get in the car and rush over to the hospital. By the time we get there, they're ready to go. We pick up his stuff and leave. Jacob wants to see the helicopter so they all go over and I get the van so he doesn't have to walk so far when they're done. We come home and Jacob falls asleep along with the rest of us. Later, around 6:00 there's a few kids outside playing and Jacob asks to go out with them. So we go, and I'm thinking "is this the child who had little chance for survival just three days ago???"

Monday, Mikkel calls. He's on his way to Mexico and has a calling card so while on his layover in Dallas he calls. We hadn't called him yet because 1) he was so far away and unable to do anything so we didn't want him to be too upset until we had more information and 2) we knew he was calling Monday and we could give him whatever we knew then. So, I have to retell the whole story and Mikkel is pretty blown away. He's glad though that we decided to wait to tell him. We talk for about 30 minutes and he has to go get food and get on his plane to Mexico. Man, I miss him!

Since then, he's had a follow up appointment where the doctor, who's known him for nearly five years says that if I hadn't told her the story, she would never be able to tell anything had ever happened. He was real quiet and introspective for a few days but he's definitely my Jacob now.

Speaking to the various people involved, I've learned this much: Jacob was wearing his life-vest and swimming. The Varney's were in town house hunting and felt like they should stop by and see how Cristi was doing that day. While they were there, Cristi went inside to frost cupcakes and left the Varney's to watch the swimmers. Suddenly, Emma Cooper says "Jacob's been holding his breath too long!" CJ Elder went over and started pulling Jacob out of the water, meanwhile, Shawn was there pulling him out at the same time. He had a pulse but wasn't breathing so Shawn started giving him rescue breaths. (a side note here, Emma and CJ are six years old, how did they know what it looks like to be under too long? How is it that they even noticed? Also, Shawn is an ER doctor for the Army. He not only is an ER doctor but one of the best in the world, they send him all over to teach and train ER staff. How is it he just happened to be there where he would be needed so badly?). It's estimated that Jacob was underwater around 2 minutes. The EMT's have a scoring system they give for each patient they have to treat that ranges from 3 to 16. Three is the worst... they gave him a four at the time they brought him in.

I've been trying very hard not to talk about this around him so Jacob won't "recover" memories he never had but willing to listen to him when he wants to tell me something he really does remember. He tells me things every so often, the hardest thing to hear was that when he fell in, he says he started calling my name. He kept calling for me to come help him and I wasn't there. I'm so grateful somebody was.

Abigail

We went to Costco today and in the parking lot we saw a man. He wasn't just your average man... he was totally buffed - huge! Like he could squish me with two fingers big! He was wearing a tank top and walking into the liquor store (in Texas they can only sell wine and beer in regular stores so even Costco has it's own liquor store). He was also covered in tattoos. So Abigail looks at him and says "you colored all over yourself, you shouldn't do that."

I was mortified!

He just smiled and laughed and kept walking.

Mexico - Part 3

Here is the latest from Mikkel:

"The Brethren made the decision to halt travel to and from Mexico. They will not even think about reversing this decision until at least the 12th. If they give us the green light then, we'll be out of here between the 14th and 16th I assume. If things really are that bad though they might just keep us here even longer than that. If worst comes to worst, we might get shipped somewhere state side until we can resume travel to Mexico. I'm pretty bummed about it but I have faith that the Lord knew what he was doing when he called me to Veracruz, I'll be okay. I'm not going to tell you to fast for us, but the missionaries coming from and going to Mexico could sure use a miracle.

I bought hand sanitizer that works for 4 hours without re-application. So my hands will be fine. I'm absolutely not buying a surgical mask, sorry, but that will look stupid and there's no proof it keeps out swine flu. You need to not worry, I am a missionary. Do you remember the blessing Presidentg Freckleton gave me before I came out here? He specifically said that I would be surrounded by disease and that I would not be subject to it."

Although I'm glad he's not going to Mexico right now, I am bummed that I most likely won't get a call for Mother's day :( It makes sense, they don't really have the capacity for all 1500+ missionaries to make phone calls in one day but it does make me sad, I've been looking forward to that since March 4th! Now I guess I have to wait all the way until Christmas, man I'm really bummed now.