I woke up to a lovely morning with a few presents from my husband. He had a big boquete of flowers, some hair products, and a beautiful card. This was supposed to be the beginning of our weekend. He had to work, so I decided to take one client that morning before getting ready for the weekend. So, I dropped him off at work and went on my way to see my client. BUT! I did not make it to work that day, and this would be the very first time I didn't make it into work.
On my way to work, a drive I've done for 3 1/2 years without a problem, I got into the worst accident of my life. I was in the right hand lane when this lady flies out of an apartment complex, without even a though, pulling into an intersection. I couldn't see her as there is foliage, trees, and a glass cased bus stop before the complex. She ran a stop sign and I didn't see her coming. She flew in front of me so fast I t-boned her front end. It was like I was floating around in the car and getting punched in the face by an airbag all at the same time. It was exactly like the comercial about texting and driving, but I wasn't the one that was on my phone. After I hit her, I then ran off the street into a flooded ditch and then into a tree. I hit the tree and the tree didn't budge. Also, there was no more airbag for this punch, so it was all steering wheel to the face. As the car FINALLY stopped moving, I knew I had to focus on breathing. I could barely breathe, my stomach hurt more than it ever has, and I was bleeding profusely from my nose. I wasn't concerned at all about my nose, because in wrestling I've broken it at least 3x that I can think of. I knew I just had to keep my face down, so the blood didn't drain into my stomach, as I already had pains there and vomiting would be the last thing I needed (If you swallow blood it may upset your stomach and make you vomit).
A guy had stopped immediately to help me and was very concerned. He was trying to talk to me, and I could barely speak. I just kept telling him to get Pooh. My phone case currently is Winnie the Pooh. Well, he found Pooh, and there was no more phone in it. I hit so hard my phone flew out of the case. So, we found my phone, and I dialed my husband. I couldn't speak, so I gave it to him and said husband. He moved me from the front seat to the back as he was waiting for my husband to answer. Now, I know he shouldn't have, but I couldn't argue, and I didn't want to risk anymore injuries. He told my husband what happened and where we were at. Next this guy told my husband that he moved me. All of a sudden, and all I hear is $#%R&*%&%^#$%#^&&$#%$#":%{#$%^:@#{:^........ All I could do was roll my eyes. In the mean time, the lady who caused all of this, because she was neglecting to pay attention and on her phone, never came to check on me. She was absolutely fine, not a scratch, and car was fine. I'm bleeding, in pain, and my car is completely totalled.
The ambulance gets there pretty fast, but I wasn't surprised and was expecting them to be soon. I knew I needed to go to the hospital, so I said lets go. I told them I was awake the whole time (being a pro wrestler we get kicked in the head a LOT, and I've had probably 7 bad concussions and a ton of minor, so I didn't get knocked out, but wished I had), what happened, and my symptoms. I hear my husband screaming and eventually he finds me. He tells me he'll meet me there, then I tell them I don't have my phone. Everyone said they would look for it and I'd get it as soon as possible.
They get me to the hospital and I am having SEVERE pain in my abdomen. My husband follows behind minutes later. I ask him if he got my phone, and he said they couldn't find it. I know what happened to it. The man that helped me had to have been so scared of my husband, that he just gave his statement and left. When my husband is angry, he's ANGRY! The nursing team comes and takes me away for scans, x-rays, and for the doc to examine me. They FINALLY give me pain meds, followed by the results. They said I had a tear in my large intestine and internal bleeding. They said they'd have to make small incisions and clean up my insides. I agree and say let's get this done.
I woke up in SO much pain, but I remember also being really high, thanks morphine. The doctor came in and said things went well and I should be out in a few days. During these few days I remember people coming in and out, and the walls coming at me, thanks morphine. I do remember my friend Kirsten coming to visit me late, must have been when she got off of work, and I remember not feeling so great. I told her what was going on, because she is also a nurse, and she was concerned. I didn't put too much thought into it, just thought it was pain from the surgery. The next morning the doctors were trying to discharge me. One of the doctors thought I was there for pain drugs, but Dr. Tapper was VERY concerned about the pain in my abdomen. He says to me, "I don't feel comfortable discharging you when you're in this much pain." I agreed! He then said, "I'm going to have to cut you wide open to see what's going on." My response was, "Well, I'm in pain and you have to do what you have to do." So, I go in soon after for my second surgery.
I wake up in EVEN MORE PAIN. I didn't understand why I still was in so much pain, but I was very comfortable, because I had so many loved ones with me. I had friends, framily, and my husband by my side. I may have been really high and out of it, but I remember some parts, and the walls still coming at me, thanks morphine. IF I HAD TEXTED, VOXED, OR CALLED you when I was on drugs, I AM SORRY!!!!!! My husband shouldn't have given me the phone right away that he had bought for me. As my stay continued, they made me get up and walk, which was EXTREMELY painful and uncomfortable. At this point, I still haven't even looked at my stomach. Later, the doc comes in and decided to take staples out of my stomach. When the doc and the nurse went to grab a few things they needed, I snapped a shot of my stomach and FREAKED! I had 2 giant holes in my stomach. I had no clue! I was so freaked out by this I couldn't even talk, but before the doctor left I asked him what happened. He said I a blood clot explode inside me and I went septic. This means, IF they would have discharged me, I would have had up to 48 hours to live. If the infection didn't kill me, the blood clot would have traveled to my heart or brain and would have killed me. So, Dr. Tapper literally saved my life by not discharging me.
So, It had been about 2 weeks, still in the hospital, and bills already up to a quarter of a million dollars. The stay continues, the bills continue to rack up, and more and more walking. I had a stay of just over 3 weeks in the hospital alone. They FINALLY discharged me. I was allowed to be at home on bed rest and only walk a little here and a little there. I was on house arrest, thats house arrest to me, for 3 weeks.
Being home wasn't fun either. I had what they call a wound vac in my stomach to keep it clean and dry. I had to have a nurse change this 3x a week, and was one of the most painful thing I've ever been through. I even had one nurse come to my house and rip it right out of me. They eventually took me off the vac, and put me on wet to dry. It's a bunch of gauze to keep it clean. I did this myself.
While being on bed rest, I spoke to my lawyer. He tells me that she's like 21, no assets, minimum insurance, no nothing, and if we went after her for money, it'd be like getting money from a rock. LOVELY NEWS..... (sarcasm)..... I get all these injuries and am down for 2 months and she gets a ticket for reckless driving. So, this means, after all is said and done, I will have to pay out of pocket whatever my insurance doesn't cover. This is just fantastic news, especially after what I've gone through.
Fast forward to today, I still have an open wound, but one is healed. I hope the other will be healed in about another 3 weeks. Thankfully, I have sweert FRAMILY that live here in Florida. Yes, framily. I don't live near any of my family, so they're not here to help. If it wasn't for my husband, framily, and friends, I'd be all alone. My framily Ryan, Angel, and Krissy set up a fundraiser for me, to help with the bills when they all come in or a new car. They were able to raise $5,000.00 for me and a truely selfless thing they did for me, and I'll always be grateful. Lexie is my wrestling mum/my sister/ my best friend and she was there for me a ton. She is always there for me, and i'm forever grateful for her kindness towards me, not just for this, but in life. I'm grateful for my husband who stayed with me every single night, and who went above and beyond for me the whole time. I love him more than he knows. I hope I can be there for everyone as much as they were there for me. Love you all.
My life was taken from me for 2 months, I wasn't able to see my little from Big Brother Big Sister, I can't compete for at least a year, I can't wrestle for at least a year, I will have a huge scar for the rest of my life, and the most upsetting thing to me, is that I can not even try for a baby for a year, and that is something we were hoping to try for.
Today I ask all of you to please think about your loved ones, friends, family, and pets before you text, talk on your phone, tweet, facebook, etc while driving. If this can happen to me, this can happen to any one of them and even yourself. I wasn't the one on my phone, but she was. I'm the one that got hurt, she didn't. I know phones are the lifeline these days, but please keep my story in the back of your head, stay safe and keep your family safe.
