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We had been without electricity for 3 days due to the weather, and earlier in the day we ran a generator out in the front driveway/edge of our garage, (we had the garage door and windows open.) The fire chief said that since it was so cold and there was no wind that the gas probably just settled instead of blowing away and just crept back into the house via the eaves.

 

Taylor and I had gone to bed in our respective bedrooms and she told us later that someone called her name and she was trying to get up to see who it was...she got up and collapsed in her bedroom floor and shimmied up her wall, got back in bed, then heard her name being called again. She got up a second time and then collapsed outside her bedroom. It was the thud of her falling that woke me.

 

Charlie (her dad, and my ex-husband) heard this as well from the living room. We each went to the hallway to see what it was and found her lying lifeless on her face. We couldn't get her to respond at all to us and Charlie sent me for a flashlight that was by my bed. On my way to the bedroom I started feeling like something was not right with me either.

 

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I managed to get the flashlight, and started running back to the hall so I could get to Charlie, I had to let him know I wasn't ok. I knew if I collapsed in the bedroom he wouldn’t know to come for me, I had to get to him so he would know I was sick too.

 

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But the closer I got to them the further away I felt like I was getting. Everything was spinning out of control.  When I turned the corner to the hallway I collapsed face first without any hands/arms to brace my fall, down I went headfirst onto the metal flashlight cutting my forehead to the bone. Charlie had to search in the dark for the flashlight which had rolled when I fell. I called out to him, "I feel blood running down my face." He found the flashlight and as soon as he looked at me he said he had to get me to the hospital! "What is wrong with Taylor, doesn’t she need to go?" I said

 

Meanwhile, Taylor was coming in and out of consciousness. Thankfully, Charlie was able to get her to stay awake long enough for her to get a towel to put on my head to help with the bleeding until help got there. My head began to pulse blood out of control. When she did bring the towel back, she again went back into unconsciousness not far from where I was and Charlie had to drag her over and prop her on top of me and against the wall as I was having convulsions and banging my face into the concrete floor. My eyes were rolling back in my head, and Charlie was yelling that I wasn’t going to die on him! 

 

He called 911 and first to respond were the police. Immediately upon entering they looked for the lights and Charlie told them we were without power. They used their flashlights and the first thing they saw was my blood, my bloody handprints in my hallway where I tried to stand from falling. The torch moved over to Charlie who had my blood all over him too. Immediately they began accusing Charlie of a crime, all the while he was trying to explain what had transpired.

 

Shortly thereafter the fire department arrived, and luckily Charlie knew one of the firemen who came to his defence. The fire chief began asking him questions as to what we had done earlier in the day to maybe put some of the pieces of the puzzle together. He told the fire chief of the generator use and instantly the fire chief went to the truck to get the carbon monoxide detector. The truck was parked on the street and within steps of entering our driveway the detector began to “freak out”, so much so that the chief went back to the truck to recalibrate the devise because he couldn't believe how the high readings were... Surely the devise was playing up! However, once again as he walked up the driveway and up to our front door the readings on the devise began to creep higher and higher. Reaching the door the chief called for his crew to exit the home and began to get Charlie, Taylor and our dogs out as well.

 

A couple of Paramedics were left inside with me to get me stable enough for transport to the hospital. Once outside, they realized that Taylor had started this whole incident and the firemen told Charlie they wanted her checked out as well.  I left by ambulance and Charlie and Taylor in his truck. Several firemen stayed at our home to open windows and stay and watch our dogs for sickness and make sure they were in a safe place before leaving; going way beyond the call of duty.

 

Once at Mansfield Methodist they checked mine and Taylor’s blood gases and they were “through the roof”, hers being much higher than mine. Mansfield Methodist was not prepared or skilled to handle emergencies such as ours and they began preparing us to be transported to Dallas Methodist to get in the hyperbaric chamber, (in an ambulance, on the ice.) Before that could happen my head had to be stitched up, (with 15 stitches) plus I had to have a CT to make sure I was transportable. Then off we went, Taylor and me in the ambulance, her sitting and me on a stretcher both with oxygen masks on. Somewhere along the way my oxygen ran out and the face mask adhered to my face, not a fun experience but the paramedics were wonderful!  

 

Upon arriving at Dallas Methodist they began to explain to me the procedures for going into the hyperbaric chamber, all of this I am trying to comprehend while the carbon monoxide is still doing damage to my brain! In addition to that, some time after our arrival we found out that the family that had just been in the chamber, sadly had all passed away, except for the father! Not at all comforting!!!! Taylor and I are both extremely claustrophobic but we're survivors, after our approximate 3 hour stay in the chamber!! Taylor was such a trooper. They actually had a really difficult time getting her to the depth that was needed for it all to be to be successful. But by God's grace plus two ambulance rides, one catscan, two bloodgases, two hyperbaric chambers, fifteen stitches and one concussion later, we survived!!! 

 

Afterwards my sister moved in for about a month. I was left with a traumatic brain injury which meant that I literally started over again with with kindergarten flashcards, looking at an apple and saying library.

 

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I’ve come a long way, baby!

 

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Friends and family scooped Taylor and I up and helped us heal! My neurologist told me that people don't survive what we went through and there really aren't patients like us. He said that beacuse of this, they really don't know how to treat me. It was through this honesty, he became a great comforter during my struggles with memory and cognitive skills. Memory is horrible at times, and I’ve lost so many precious memories. Taylor and I have a saying when it comes to trying to remember things; we just look at each other and say, “Did we have fun?”  Then the one who remembers says to the other, “yes, we had fun!!”  That’s all that matters. 

 

To be alive is truly amazing, (No matter what the capacity!) and although the battles aren't over for me or for Taylor, I can truly say that,  

 

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"God is good... No, He is great and His grace is unending!"

 

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Even though, I have to deal with the struggles of balance, breathing, memory, or lack thereof on a daily basis and although it seems as if I've fallen more times than I’ve stood and had injuries that ranged from Band-Aids to Orthopaedics visits, recovery continues every day!

 

Luckily for Taylor her dyslexic brain is use to accommodating skills and this continues to be her saving grace on a daily basis. She is young and healing has come easier for her, but memory and migraines are big battles for her.

 

But one thing I know she won't forget, is the moment when we arrived home from the hospital, I grabbed Taylor’s forearms, looked her in the eyes and said to her,

 

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“you know the voice that woke you up was not me or daddy?” 

Her response, “I know mom!” 

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