Today marks 3 years since my wife had her bad accident in our house. She was placing some luggage up in the attic when our son climbed up the ladder. In her attempt to keep him safe, she lost her footing & fell through the ceiling next to the ladder falling around 9 feet onto the concrete below. She fractured her back in two places as well as cut her head open on a screw.
She spent almost 30 days in the hospital going through multiple major surgeries to repair her spine and was in the battle for her life when a staph infection took over her body. She had over 80 staples put in her body, 100+ x-rays & scans, blood transfusions, & over 8 months of antibiotics after, the one thing that never happened was my her spirit getting down.
When we first arrived at the hospital the nurses & doctors all said that my wife would live the rest of her life in pain, that she would never be able to dance without tremendous pain, that picking up the kids would be painful, and that she could never had children again. The “experts” told her of all the things she would never be able to do anymore and how her life as we knew it was basically over.
Little did the “experts” know the determination my wife possessed. Within a few weeks of being released from the hospital my wife had gotten completely off of the painkillers that they thought she might spend the rest of her life on. She got back into her normal routine of driving the kids around town to different weekly events like dance, the library, & bible study. By the middle of summer, she was back outside pushing the lawn mower and taking bicycle rides with the kids around the neighborhood.
After a mere 9 months we then found the greatest/nerve-wracking news of all. My wife shared with me that she was pregnant with our third child. The doctors all shared how she would have constant back pain as the pregnancy continued along and the baby grew. They were concerned as she began carrying the weight of the baby it could cause some issues with her spinal implant.
Never once did she complain about pain in her back while she was pregnant. In fact, the pregnancy went very smooth & easy. We were blessed with the birth of Miriam Elizabeth on August 30th, 2014. She has been nothing but a bundle of Joy for our family since.
So here we are three years since the incident occurred and for those who know my wife, they would never know anything is wrong. My wife decided that day that she was not going to allow this accident to control her future life moving forward. While the Doctors shared all doom & gloom, she wasn’t accepting it and knew that if she kept a good attitude and had determination, she could overcome this too.
It’s common to find her in the mornings dancing around the house with the kids and acting silly. Many mornings I find her giving piggy back rides to the kids around the house. You hear regularly the sounds of her & the kids playing and laughing with joy. What you don’t hear is complaints of her back hurting, or excuses of not being able to do something.
Her mindset from the moment the accident occurred through the trying recovery where she was less than 24 hours from death from the infection ravaging her body, was always positive. Katherine didn’t allow anyone or anything keep her down or deny her from quality in life.
The point is that too many times in life we allow others to influence us and talk us down from our dreams and goals in life. While we have the potential to reach greatness, our friends/experts begin to inject negativity and doubt that keeps us from reaching greatness. Don’t allow these things to happen. Be more like my wife and set your mind on the prize and don’t allow anything to keep you from reaching your goals.
I made reference the other day to my recent journey to the Grand Strand Medical Center and thought that today I would take a few moments to explain what I’ve been up to the past two months, my recent diet changes, and why I’m suddenly interested in working out & eating healthier.
Upon arriving, they took me in the back and did the normal weight, height, temp, BP readings. However when they tried to get my blood pressure, they kept having problems. I told them that it was probably a little high and that it was on my last visit too. After 3 nurses trying to take it & all not getting good results, the Dr. finally came in to see me.
I met with a family care physician since then as well as a Cardiologist & Kidney Specialist and they all basically told me the same thing to which we have been adhering. First, they said I needed to limit the amount of sodium intake. Some of the things that we used to make on a regular basis for dinner had to be eliminated. Some of the things that shocked me being high in sodium were things like cheese tortellini and italian breadcrumbs. I’ve also changed my breakfast routines. What used to be filled with bacon & sausage has now been replaced with protein shakes and snacks have been replaced with unsalted peanuts.
