That One Day

Have you ever thought your spouse was going to die?

No, seriously. THINK about that.

Have you ever seriously thought that your spouse was potentially minutes away from being gone? Forever.  Let me tell you something - you don't WANT to know that feeling.  It's something I know will happen when the time comes (hopefully a long, LONG time from now), but until then, I don't ever want to experience those feelings again.

One year ago at 9:35 a.m. (trust me, I remember that), I received a call that lasted 2 minutes.  Two minutes that seemed to go by with lightning speed, and yet, seemed to last an eternity, all at the same time.  In those two minutes, my life changed. I ultimately told Eric to get off the phone and focus on getting medical treatment - they were in the middle of the mountains, LUCKY to even get cell service, and he had this in his heart:

3 1/2 inch galvonized (so it won't rust) spiral shank nail - through three chambers of his heart.  Shot from a nail gun at point blank range.  Actually, it was even closer than point blank because the gun bounced off of Eric's chest, which is what released the safety mechanism.

My first call after that was to my mom.  Minutes later, to my best friend.  Minutes after that, I walked back into my office and broke down in my office manager's office.  My co-workers were beyond amazing that day - calling hospitals, helping me find phone numbers of people I needed to call, and all-around keeping me sane. 

Ultimately, the wait while he was life-flighted back to Boise and then again while he spent hours in surgery was not the most fun I've ever had.  But when all is said and done, I basically turned his life over to the two amazing surgeons and let them take it from there. 

He literally had to have heart surgery - which required cutting him open, sawing through his chest plate and ribcage, and pulling the nail from his heart.  And from there, one little stitch in the heart sealed the hole.  One stitch.  Amazing, huh?  Though the outside took quite a beating:

You can see the incision (obviously), the nail hole to the right of the incision, and the two holes from the chest tubes below the incision.  It was a brutal recovery for Eric, I can tell you that just from being the helper.

This picture was taken a while after he was home from the hospital....maybe a few weeks to a month.

And this one was taken last night.

Overall, the surgeons and second-opinion doctors said there was no impairment rating, which still floors me.  They said it could take up to a year to fully heal - and for the most part, they were right.  His chest over the incision is still sensitive - like, you wouldn't want to walk up to him and punch him in the chest.  I'm not sure it would knock him to his knees, but it would seriously hurt him.  There are times when he and Carter are wrestling, and Carter actually hits his head against Eric's chest - there is substantial pain.  I don't know how long it will take for those bones to fully fuse back together (his ribcage was simply wired shut), or for the sensitivity to go away.  Or if it ever will.  I'm just thankful he's alive.  We've had some major ups and down this year, but I wouldn't trade him for anything.

"Good relationships don't just happen. They need time, patience, and two people who truly believe they are meant to be together."