Monday 11 February 2013

You couldn't make this up...

Just a waning, this is really long. Feel free to skip the accident towards the bottom.

Okay so quick update on the medical stuff. My liver enzymes were still too high to receive chemo. They had come down a very slight amount, but not nearly enough. I was xrayed and stent is still in correct place so it's just a waiting game. The surgeon who put my stent in advised us not to go to Hawaii. He said I was still at risk for infection and my liver could potentially get worse while we are away. Because these are preexisting conditions they would not be covered under insurance. We decided to roll the dice and if something came up we would fly back to Canada ASAP.

Now the interesting stuff....

We drove down to Vancouver on Wednesday. I had an appointment so Will dropped me off and he and the kids were going to go to Granville Island and play in the kidzone. On the way there he realized our brakes were squealing and not working well. Luckily there is a repair shop right in the entrance and they were able to take the van in. The rear brakes had to be replaced. Luckily that all got dealt with and we had a working van again.

Thursday morning we flew to Hawaii. The kids were so excited, as were their parents. They were awesome on the plane. I sat with Sophie and she was so happy. My sister had made her a special little backpack full of activities and snacks and they kept her occupied. Will and Liam and my parents were together and they did well too. Liam was really good. We landed, got our car, and started driving.

My parents were staying in Ka'anapali and we were staying in Haiku for 2 nights. They are about 1.5hours apart. The drive was beautiful we stopped at a great store and got lots of yummy food and found our house. It was a huge "treehouse" in the middle of the jungle. It was gorgeous and secluded. Once we ate and got the kids in bed, Will and I relaxed on the lanai taking in the sounds and smells of the island. Ahh, our much awaited vacation in paradise was here!

The following day, my parents made the trek out to see where we were staying. We then went and ate at Mama's Fish House. It's an amazing restaurant with killer views. The kids were great once again and we finally felt like we were getting into vacation mode. We spent the afternoon at our place. The kids had fun running around the yard and lanai and looking at all the birds. We did absolutely nothing and it was perfect.

Saturday morning we woke up and I had this thought, "I'm sure glad we switched our flights to come early, we are only meant to be driving to Vancouver right now"

We packed up and had everyone dressed in bathing suits. We were planning on going to a lava field and nearby waterfall before heading to the resort in Ka'anapali. This is where things get really interesting.

We climbed into the car and Will backed up so we could turn around and get out the driveway. It had rained a ton and one wheel got a little stuck in the mud. I tried to put it in drive and give it gas as he pushed, it didn't work. Not 100% how the next few minutes happened, but I was outside the car pushing on the dash and Will was pushing from behind. Somehow I got the car into neutral or reverse or something and it started going backwards. We didn't realize we were at the edge of a hill. I tried to reach in and hit the brake with my hand and Will tried to jump into the car. We both failed and were both pushed over and dragged slightly downhill. Luckily the car door hit a tree and stopped the car. I got up and hobbled over to Sophie and took her out of her carseat. It was obvious the kids were okay. Thank God. Will was on the phone with 911 and he couldn't get up so I took the phone and crawled out of the ravine/ditch. It was total chaos from here.  I managed to find the neighbour's license plate number so they could track us as we didn't know the address. I then climbed to the top of the driveway to wait. I could hear the kids screaming. Sophie was too scared to climb out and Will knew he was hurt so he didn't move. I knew I was hurt, but okay. Nothing was that painful so I knew I didn't have anything broken.

The cops came and carried Sophie and Liam to me. We got out of the rain and sat on a bench...and remained on the same bench for the next 4 hours. Once the ambulance arrived, they carried Will out on a spine board. That was pretty scary. He was strapped down with a neck brace. They asked if I wanted to get checked out and I said I did. However, they couldn't bring the kids in the ambulance, so that was out of the question. At some point a tow truck was called and my dad was called. The cops slowly left the scene. Once the tow truck arrived, we realized it hadn't brought a replacement car. I now realize I wouldn't have been able to drive it anyways. Plans changed and they left us one at the airport, my dad turned around and went to the airport and got the mini van and then continued the rest of the way to us. I broke down as soon as he got there. The kids had been awesome. They missed lunch (we shared a cookie and a piece of pita bread that was in our day pack) and Liam was missing his nap. We loaded the carseats in and all the suitcases and started driving towards the hospital.

When we got there, Will was still in emergency. He has two fractured ribs and 4 fractured vertebrae. They were planning on keeping him overnight for pain relief.

We continued towards the resort. By this point Kristie and Jonny had also landed and were on their way to the hotel. We got there and Kristie and Jonny took me and the kids and all our stuff to the room. I rode on a baggage cart! My dad went back to the hotel he and my mom had stayed in the past few days to find her. She hadnt heard from us for about 4 hours so was very relived to know that everyone was okay.

We are so thankful that we weren't injured worse, and that my family is here. Kristie and Jonny have spent the last 2 nights on our fold out couch so that they could deal with the kids in the middle of the night and help me get in and out of bed. I did go get xrays, and nothing is broken. I am just extremely bruised and swollen. If I am sitting still I am comfortable but it is really really hard to move.

Will ended up having to stay 2 nights at the hospital and just got back this afternoon. He is in a back brace and can't lift anything for 6 weeks.

It will be an unforgettable vacation to say the least.

4 comments:

  1. Holy smokes, that is insane! So glad it wasn't worse! Speedy recovery to Will.

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  2. Wow Melissa- I can't believe that. I hope Will is OK and will bounce back from his injuries in no time. Sending healing vibes to all of you!

    Dave

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  3. So thankful it wasn't worse, although honestly it sounds bad enough. Speedy recovery to Will and you - safe travels home.

    /Pam & Dan MacDonald

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  4. Good grief Team Pratt, that is unbelievable and so unfortunate to say the least. From cancer to car crashes, you just can't get a break. Perhaps you should buy some lottery tickets, cause your luck has got to change. What a scary situation for all of you, especially the little ones seeing both parents hurt. Sounds like they were pretty brave overall though. Hopefully both of you have some of the fun meds to ease the pain. Glad to hear you're sticking it out down there for the duration. Just means you get to relax even more! Wishing you both a speedy recovery and a 'positive stories only' blog update for the rest of the trip!

    Paulie

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