What an eventful Monday night we had! Last night as we were giving the boys their bath, Thomas began getting shooting pains in his jaw. Every few minutes he would start complaining about his pain which worried me a little because he is never one to complain! After about an hour of this, he suddenly lost complete use of his left arm and leg and collapsed on the floor. As you could imagine, I started to panic! I yelled down the stairs to have his nephews come help him up off the floor and carry him to bed. After about 5 minutes of watching his symptoms get worse and having no clue as to why this was happening, I drove him to the hospital.
He began complaining more and more on the drive about how much pain he was in and his words began to slur as he passed out a few times. I began imagining what my life would be like if I lost him. How on earth I would be able to raise my 3 babies without him. How sad I would be for them to lose their dad and grow up without him and of course how I literally wouldn't be able to live without him. He's my other half and I could never function with out him! I don't think I have honestly been more scared in my life. And thinking that just hours ago he was completely fine scared me the most. Because what could this be to come on so fast and literally take over his body like it did? I was obviously thinking the worse and just praying with everything I had in me that he would be ok.
When we finally got there, I ran in and grabbed a wheelchair, pulled him out of the car and wheeled him inside. He was slouching all the way over with his head on his lap as the nurse asked him questions about his symptoms. By this point he wasn't able to speak so I tried to answer for him the best I could.
We waited about 1 1/2 hours for someone to help him. This gave me even more time to sit and worry and watch as he slowly got worse and worse. I began looking all around the room at all the other patients waiting to be helped just to try to take my mind off what was going on with my husband. There was a little old lady with a head full of white hair that had been brought in from an ambulance. She sat in a corner alone by herself. I began to wonder what brought her here and why she was alone. Why no one was there with her. She had the saddest look in her eyes and I just wanted to go over and give her a hug. The waiting room was depressing me even more so I stopped looking at all the sad/sick patients and tried to direct my attention to the TV.
That is.. until this woman named Jill rolled inside. She was cracking jokes and making everyone laugh. And let me not forget to mention, Jill was also a patient waiting to be helped. She was holding her leg up in the air and her foot was completely turned around and nearly dangling off! I couldn't help but stare! I had never seen anything so gross in real life and I couldn't believe she wasn't screaming her head off! She fell rock climbing and literally snapped her ankle in half. She started asking everyone if they had seen the fights where Anderson Silva's leg broke his leg and then began singing "Silva and gold...Sliva and gold" I was literally laughing out loud by this point. This poor lady was in so much shock! I was hoping it wouldn't ware off while we were still in the room. Then FINALLY a nurse called Thomas's name.
Two different doctors saw Thomas and the second one was able to get down to exactly what had caused this. He first asked Thomas if he was allergic to anything (insinuating medicine) to which Thomas responded "Cats!" haha. The doctor laughed and said "Shoot! Well we would be able to fix your problem, but since you're allergic to cat's I think you're on your own!" ;)
After about 2 minutes of talking to us, he said "I know exactly what you need! You need a dentist!" A What?? How was a dentist going to get his leg and arms feeling back?! But after he explained his diagnosis, it all made sense.
About 9 months ago, Thomas's back tooth broke in half but he had never taken care of it. Occasionally, his tooth would hurt and bother him. For months and months he's been having random fevers, ear aches (on the same side as his broken tooth) and other uncomfortable symptoms. Last night his jaw began hurting because his tooth was so infected that it was now spreading through his body. The doctor pushed behind his neck and asked if he was feeling pain back there. He winced and nodded his head that yes, that's where most of the pain was. The doctor then went on to say that the infection had pinched a nerve in his left side causing him to lose function of his limbs (weird!) And this my friends is what happens when you procrastinate something that could have been a simple visit to the dentist!
I was thrilled that my husband wasn't dying! (Yay!) A little angry that we hadn't taken care of his tooth sooner and that it came down to ending him up in the emergency room, but happy that a few pills and a dentist would solve his problem! The doctor did say however that we needed to bring him in to get him those antibiotics to fight off his infection. Infection is never something you want to mess with! Especially when it has spread as badly as his did.
When we got home, he still had no use of his leg so his nephews had to carry him up the stairs. This time, everyone was laughing and cracking jokes knowing his life wasn't in danger. His pain killers had kicked in as well so he was saying some ridiculous things ;)
Oh do you like that blue towel hanging out of his mouth? He refused to leave the house without it and it sat clenched in his mouth the entire stay at the hospital.
Sometimes it takes something tragic to happen before we realize what really matters in life- I went to bed a little more grateful for him then ever before. We have no guarantees in this life and you never know when yours or a loved ones time is up. So whoever you love, give them an extra hug today or let them know you love them! I don't ever want to take a minute of time spent with my loved ones for granted.
