A Latte Talk

A year ago today, my husband broke his neck.

2012-04-12T23:40:00.002-05:00

Never in a gazillion years did I ever think I would title a blog post this way.

Can I share my (his) (His) story? I've told nearly everyone I know bits and pieces of the story, but I've never written it all down. I don't want to forget, so if you'll indulge me, go get a latte, maybe a potty break, because this is the long long long version...

Tues, April 12, 2011
I was sitting on the floor of my living room looking at my new smartphone that had just arrived in the mail. A knock on the door showed a woman I vaguely recognized. When I opened the door, she said very calmly, "Um, there is a man out here lying on the ground next to a ladder, I think he's your husband, he says he hurt his neck, and to please call 911."

I grabbed my phone and ran out the door, subconsciously imagining a wheelchair ramp in place of the steps I was running down.

When I got to Matt, he was moving his arms (Praise God). As I was calling 911, he was talking to me just as calmly as if he was sitting in a lawn chair drinking lemonade. Ok, maybe an exaggeration, but I could tell he was 100% with-it, not in shock and not in agonizing pain. He kept saying his hands hurt.

He told me and the EMT's that arrived shortly that he had been working on a ladder up against the house, which was propped against our chain-link fence. He was only about 5 feet up, cleaning out a bird's nest from the vent for our bathroom fan. As he was pulling hard on a tool, trying to pry it off, it suddenly came loose. The force of his pulling made him go flying. He landed feet-first on TOP of the fence, and because of his momentum, he immediately somersaulted forward into the muddy raspberry patch, on his head, wrenching his neck. He heard/felt numerous crunches in his neck, and also a shot of pain and numbness go down his arms. The bare rasberry bushes also kissed the backs of both of his hands and wrists when he landed, peppering them with tiny, horrible thorns.

He was immobilized and strapped to a board, loaded onto an ambulance stretcher, and his last words to me before being rolled into the ambulance were, "You better call the River Falls Brass guys... I think I may not be able to play in the recital tonight."

Ya think? ;)

I have to be honest with you. At this point I really thought he was fine. He was moving arms/legs, he was talking, he was worrying about how much the ambulance/ ER visit was going to cost. A sure sign that he was fine! I even stood around and chatted it up with the neighbors who were roused out of their houses from the sirens.

When I got to the ER, I could tell that he was very, very nervous. His neck was swelling. His hands were killing him. He was visibly afraid of what they would say when they returned with the X-ray results. He really thought he had broken his neck.

The X-ray came back clear. They saw no fracture. They prescribed a muscle relaxant for his increasingly stiff muscles, and sent him on his merry way.

He did not play in his recital that night. :)

When we got home, I went out and walked around outside, put the ladder away, etc, and noticed that in the raspberry patch where he had fallen, there were large metal stakes with sharp metal all along them about every 18 inches all the way along the side of the house.

Except for the spot where Matt fell. There was a gap about 3 feet across in which he fell right between. Oh, thank you for that gap, God. I literally was nearly sick when I saw how close he came to impaling himself! Never mind landing on his head, and crunching his neck, there were other dangers God spared him from as well.

That night, he could hardly move his neck, it was so stiff. His hands hurt him so badly, I've never seen him in so much pain. He did not sleep at all that night. At this point, I felt like something was wrong. He was miserable.

Wed, April 13- Sat, April 16
He did go back in the next day to his regular doc, because of the hand pain. They x-rayed his hands, prescribed pain pills, and sent him home. He wasn't complaining of neck pain, just stiffness.

Over the next several days, his neck swelled up so much he looked like an NFL linebacker, no exaggeration. I wish I would have taken a picture of him. He also lost his voice from throat swelling, and swallowing felt funny enough for him to not want to eat much except soft food.
Besides the throat/neck swelling, he was feeling better by Saturday. His hands were feeling better, his body wasn't so sore.

Sunday, April 17
He woke up saying he felt almost normal, if it wasn't for the funny feeling in his throat, his laryngitis, and his stiff neck. He had more energy, he was up and around the house more.

As we were getting ready for church, at one point when Matt was taking a drink of water, one of our kids said his name and he turned his head a little bit while he was swallowing. Something happened in his throat and he choked and sputtered on that little bit of water. Totally freaky. Something was definitely wrong.

Back to the ER we went, to a different hospital this time.

They did a CT scan of his neck, looking for vascular damage in his neck that might cause the laryngitis and the problems he was having swallowing. He was wheeled away from his little ER room sitting up, I was told it would be about 10 minutes.
25 minutes later, I started to worry. Right then, the door opened, and he was wheeled back in. Flat on his back, with a cervical collar around his neck. "He has a broken bone in his neck!" the wonderful nurse, Jeffrey, told me when I looked at him quizzically.

The CT scan showed a fracture of his C-2 spine, a fracture named "Hangman's fracture" because it is the type of fracture found on autopsies of those who were hung to death. Lovely.

Every physician or nurse we saw during his 3 day hospital stay said the same thing to us when they heard Matt's story of delayed diagnosis. "Lucky". Over and over and over, we heard how "lucky" he was that his fracture was stable and didn't do damage to his spinal cord. "One wrong move, ..." "The fracture is clear around that vertabrae... one more day in the hospital just to make sure it really is stable. He is really lucky." Hangman's fractures are, we learned, one of those fractures that makes even the stuffy medical professionals pause and suck in breath. C2 fractures are especially dangerous, because of what nerves go through that vertabrae. The nerves that control breathing go through C2. I won't elaborate on why this is a problem, and why we had so many passionate "He's lucky"'s from the nurses. You get the picture.

Oh, the flood of questions and emotions. Questions of treatment, prognosis, what he would have to miss during recovery, and how long he would miss them.

Mercifully, there were positive answers to almost all of those questions. He did not need a halo. His throat problems were caused by swelling, not vascular damage. His hands would eventually heal, his voice would eventually return to normal. The swelling would subside, and he would be able to return to essentially normal activity within 8 weeks.

But during that time of questions and after, there was a LOT we did know. God was soveriegn over all of these events. He knew exactly what was happening inside Matt's body. He knew Matt would not play that recital and the next one and his much-anticipated, long-planned auditions that Spring.

Matt spent 6 weeks in an Aspen collar, unable to drive. Every day, I changed and washed the pads on the collar and shaved his face and neck. There were many days of no activity for him. Many books to read. Many quiet afternoons of reflection. At least one (maybe two?) Lord of the Rings trilogy all day long mega-viewings.

We had friends and support helping like crazy. My dear sweet friend and neighbor who watched my kids at a moment's notice so we could go to the hospital the second time. A meal of Panera in the ER. Visits from friends in the hospital. My wonderful mom, aka Grambie, who was here the day the accident happened, and practically lived here helping with the kids for a while, and again while I went out of town a few weeks later. Men who came to pray and encourage Matt while he was in that vulnerable state. Meals, many meals. Gift cards to Trader Joe's, Target, and Papa Murphy's. :) One brave dear friend came and got up on that same ladder in that same spot, and finished the bird's nest job. Another dear friend of Matt's came and served us by helping with his collar changes each day so that I was able to take a girls weekend trip to CA. And SO many prayers, lifting us up. We felt so cared for.

The most remarkable part of this story, to me, is how God changed us. We're grateful God spared and healed him (understatement of the year). But that wasn't the most miraculous work God did. Not by a long stretch. The most amazing thing he did was plant trust, faith, and joy in us. It was not many days after his fall, that Matt blew me away by saying, "I'm actually glad I broke my neck". He knew that the JOY he was feeling was a direct result of trusting God in every detail (he had to!), and it made the process of the trial 100% worth it. Isn't that amazing? The very real, very raw awareness of God's soveriegnty over every detail of our lives bore so much fruit in my heart.

For example, for a long time after this, every time there was something I could have worried or stressed about, I actually FELT that it was completely fruitless to worry. Worry didn't even entice me. For 5 days, while we had NO CLUE that Matt had a broken bone in his neck, God saw fit to hold those bones together, to keep Matt safe from tripping or moving and doing more damage, etc... Human worry wasn't necessary to work that miracle. Why wouldn't I trust Him with every. single. problem. ?! I can tell you that there is much joy when I trust this way.

Of course, as time passes, those revelations are not as fresh, the emotions not as strong, but the faith God gave us through this experience is lasting. And worth the the trial (another huge understatement).

Today, a year later, I look back and marvel. April 12, 2011 was a day that changed our lives, for the better.

Easter Sunday, 2011

Easter Sunday, 2012

Project 365 Aug weeks 2-4

2011-08-30T23:32:00.000-05:00

8-07


8-08

08-09

8-10 Mines

08-10

08-10 Durango Silverton train

08-11 Durango Silverton

08-11

08-11 Amazing, AMAZING scenery

08-20 Another "Praise God" photo. We can't forget to be thankful for moments like this.

08-21 Japanese Lantern Lighting Festival, St Paul

08-27 Birthday party smiles. I LOVE my girls!!!!

08-27 Made this little gem with the help of Aunt Dawn. :)

08-27 Birthday party #2 in the same day (#4 if you count the parties attended!!)

Project 365, Aug week #1

2011-08-06T10:08:00.000-05:00

Corene was a Junior Wrangler for her birthday!

Red Indian Paintbrush

Why we're here in CO

Irwin Lake and mountains beyond

This place makes me happy

Grambie is here visiting - she caught the biggest fish!! A 14" rainbow trout!


Mocha Man is perfecting a new art - catching fish with his bare hands!!

(not really- the fish was caught on a rock and he rescued him and let him go)

Project 365, July week #3

2011-07-30T23:50:00.001-05:00

Black Canyon of the Gunnison Painted Wall - 2300' cliff, the highest cliff in CO!

Quick, snap the picture and then get those kids AWAY from the edge!!

The wildflowers are seriously as tall as I am!!!

Lost Lake Slough, Beckwith Mountains beyond

I heart aspens.

Silliness

"MOM! I just saw the BIGGEST worm swimming through the WATER!!!"

Lost Lake

Dollar Lake

Project 365, July week #2

2011-07-23T18:47:00.000-05:00

7-16 Offroading in a minivan

7-18 Columbine

7-19 Horses on our hike!

7-19 Some of the horses were friendly (looking for a treat?)

7-20 The top of a climbing wall :)

7-22 Kodak moments abound

194 project

2011-07-18T00:38:00.001-05:00

Here's a whirlwind catch-up of the last 6 weeks. I *should* be better at this for the next few weeks, as we are in CO on vacation and one of the wonderful parts of our time in CO is that I am purposeful about my photography hobby while we are here. And, it's such fun to share!

Como Zoo

Japanese Gardens, Como Park

Two of my girls. :)

um... yum?!!!

Seriously the best ice cream I've ever had. (Pumphouse)

*summer*

pep talk #1

pep talk #2

1st day of summer activity - Annie at the Children's Theater

Two Harbors, MN

Taz's half birthday party

Isaac IS the present.

Incognito

bubbles

sweetness!

Olivia is 3!!

4th of July sparklers

Part one of our CO trip:

Waiting

Walking to the perfect fishing spot, Taylor Reservoir

Exhibit A: Mocha Man drinking and fishing

Taylor Reservoir

Just a little wet

Ava's birthday fish :)

The best campsite ever.

The best fish ever.

Where God intended horns to be played.

What's wrong with this picture? :)

365 project, weeks #whoknows-#whocares

2011-05-28T11:13:00.000-05:00

I think all of you know this, but my last post was written the day before we found out that Mocha Man broke his neck when he fell off a ladder at our house. He is now out of the brace and doing fantastically well. Crazy to say he broke his neck 6 weeks ago and today he's walking, talking, and working almost back to normal. Needless to say, life has been nutty. God preserved him in a way that causes us to fall to our knees daily in thanks. Some day I may write out here all the things that we are aware of that God saved him from (knowing there are many more we aren't aware of!), and the scores of ways God has worked in our hearts and lives through this experience.

As Matt likes to say, Soli Deo Gloria!

Crisis mode is over, and I'm...

Here are some photos from the last 6 weeks:

Corene's welcome home sign for Daddy. :)

Aunt Dawn's Easter peep treats - aren't they GORGEOUS?!

Easter egg hunt

Cousins :)

#Wedon'task

Words can not express how thankful I feel when I look at this picture.

Ava ate 4 helpings of collard greens

With my 4 High School besties for a girls weekend in S.F.!!!

My favorite place we went: The Palace of Fine Arts!

Downtown San Francisco

I HEART these ladies!

Wants to be like Daddy :)


Blessing #392

Cousin Kerra's flower girl and ring bearer :)

The beautiful bride!

First post-brace photo!!

Queen Guenevere for the school Medieval Feast!

Taz by day, heartbreaker by night. Melts my mommy heart.

365 falling off the wagon Project weeks 12-14

2011-04-16T10:42:00.000-05:00

Whoa! I guess my life is nuts, this is HARD to do, people! :)

This past week, Mocha Man took a spill off a ladder, fulfilled his lifelong dream of riding in an ambulance (please hear sarcasm here!), and has been home recovering all this week. Put a little damper on my creativity, but opened up my thankfulness, perspective, and Praise to God. All more important things than creativity. :)

Here are my photos for the past several weeks, no edits, just straight-out-of-my-camera. :)

baking

homemade PB!

Orchestra concert with Ava's friend Ava :)

Sushi!

Thrift store fun

Magnum bars!

Pantry project before

Pantry project during

Pantry project after

Found on the bathroom counter. A sure sign that spring is here.

Matt's project

365 Project, week 11

2011-03-19T22:27:00.001-05:00

03-13 2nd grade homework ain't like it used to be

03-14a Game night with the Scheetz boys

03-14b Life

03-15 The SUN! The SUN! We love to play drums in the SUN!!!

03-17a Shamrock shake love.

03-17b Piano lesson

03-18 In honor of the first day of Spring Break :) 45 degrees IS flip-flop weather, really!

03-19 Are these not the cutest shirts ever?! Thank you, Yuka! :)

365 Project, weeks 9 & 10

2011-03-12T09:24:00.000-06:00

02-27 Homemade spring rolls

02-28 The best thing to do with a big pile of laundry

03-02 Ready for school (it's cold!!!)

02-03 Max the cat soaking in some rays

03-04

03-05 Birthday party #1 of the day. Happy 11th, Patrice!

03-05 Birthday party #2 of the day. Happy 21st, Yuka!!!

03-09 Going to swimming lessons!

365 Project, week 8

2011-02-26T10:42:00.000-06:00

If I could post a picture of me being dragged behind the 365 project wagon, holding on for dear life, I would.
I have not fallen off completely.
I am still holding on to the hitch. :-D

02-21 Mocha Man practicing in front of the fire

02-22 Taz shoveling the lawn

02-24 2nd grade Castle project *finished product photo to come

365 Project, week 7

2011-02-20T15:38:00.000-06:00

02-12 The other photographer in our family taking a picture of the frozen Mississippi

02-14 My lovely Valentine's tulips!!!

02-15 Any guesses what we did this week???

02-16, 02-17, 02-18 Here's a hint :)

365 Project, week 6

2011-02-12T09:27:00.002-06:00

02-05 The ol' through the legs trick

02-06 The cooks of our Superbowl snack food

02-06 Grandpa and Olivia book time :)

02-07 Something Mocha Man loves. Well, not this exactly.. but what this makes possible. Every morning. And sometimes afternoon. Yum.

02-08 The boy's got some eyelashes.

02-09 I jumped on the "take a photo of yourself in the mirror" bandwagon. So original.

02-11 Taz and Jillian, the "red hoodie" club, and eating pink frosted shredded wheat - ready for Valentine's day!

365 Project week 5

2011-02-05T16:08:00.002-06:00

01-29 Some of my favorite people in all the world. Love our small group!

01-30 Ice sculpture at the Winter Carnival

1-31 Corene's violin lesson with her marvelous teacher.

2-02 The first in a series I'm trying to capture of the essence of the one I love. Episode I, the Crackberry. :)

2-03 Some cuddle/giggle time before bed.

365 Project week 4

2011-01-29T21:26:00.004-06:00

My favorite picture so far this year :)

Proof that Taz is not invincible.

Paninni's! YUM!

A rare quiet moment.

School assembly. If you look really close to the right of the teacher, you can see a single strand of Ava's hair.

365 Project, week 3

2011-01-23T08:18:00.003-06:00

01-15 "Light painting" fun

01-16 Marble fun

01-17 My deepest apologies to you Packer fans! Poor Taz loves this purple hat, now he calls it his Vikings hat. (I don't think the Vikings would approve)

01-18 Yes, this is a different day, he just wears this sweatshirt every day. At least he lost the hat!!

01-20 Chicken Pot Pie IX, baby

01-21 God's stained glass ice art on our window. This means it's very cold outside.

365 Project, week 2

2011-01-14T22:27:00.004-06:00

1-08 Sushi girl! That's a Philly roll, with bonafide raw salmon among its ingredients. Papa is proud.

1-09 Max
1-10 Yuka and kids - Yuka lived with us for 8 months and we just moved her to her University. She is terribly missed!
01-12 Taz' tea
1-13 Snow
1-14 The boy knows how to eat.

365 Project, week 1

2011-01-08T10:30:00.004-06:00

I am a student of photography. I love the art of it, and the challenge of it. It's harder than you think!! :)
I have been inspired in 2011 by Jenny Rigney to complete something called the "365 project", which is a challenge to take a picture every single day, even when there is nothing to photograph. :) It inspires photographers to think outside the box and be creative. I can tell already that this project is going to improve my skills. I'm excited!

Each week, on Saturday, I plan to post the previous week's photos.

I'm uncharacteristically not feeling chatty this morning, and I can hear Mocha Man steaming the milk for my latte, so without further ado:

1-01 New Year's day Wii
1-02 Homemade meatballs!!!

1-03 Taking down the Christmas tree!

1-04 My friend Sarah's gorgeous daughter, Abby.

1-05 Drummin'

1-06 Flute

1-07 - Absolutely nothing to photograph. We spent the day insulating our attic, hence the dust mask. :) Out of commitment to this project, I took this creepy picture of myself, and out of lack of any other picture taken that day, I am posting this. Mark my words that I will never do another self-portrait out of desparation again. I will photograph my shoe rack or something instead. :)

It's beginning to look a lot like...

2010-11-13T15:36:00.006-06:00

The clues:

SNOWBALL FIGHTS!

Don't even think about it, Mocha Man.

Adapted from the words of Mouse, "The best kind of (first ever!) snowball fight is the one you share with a friend"

Finished off with some Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread, and it's the perfect day.

Even if it's still November.

I Heart Faces - Got to Wear Shades!

2010-08-16T21:26:00.005-05:00

I've been inspired as of late by the famed i heart faces website, and they have a weekly photo challenge. This is my first entry, after a few months of lurking, I'm taking the plunge and participating! Got to wear shades, here's Taz, aka MiniMatt!

Be sure to check out iheartfaces. If you like photography, you'll leave inspired!

A Tale of Two Fishies

2010-08-03T20:42:00.002-05:00

Once upon a time, a coffee-loving family and their Colorado-inhabiting cousins went on a trek to a beautiful mountain lake.
Fishing poles were employed and everyone participated (all except the Wonder Mommies, who were otherwise employed with resting and falling in the lake trying to get the photograph above). Don't worry, no cameras were harmed in the making of this blog post.

There was some of this:

And quite a bit of this:
And, yeah, there was a little bit of this:

But there were quite a few of these:

AND, they caught 2 of THESE:

A great time was had by all, and rumor has it that before the coffee-loving family lives happily ever after, they might just go do it again.

We're pruny

2010-08-01T00:05:00.001-05:00

The beginning of the summer marked 3 weeks of 8:30 am swimming lessons for the girls. Lessons that paid off immeasurably, as I now have one bonafide swimmer and one thinks-she-can swimmer. The latter brand of swimmer is actually a frightening sight indeed... more dangerous than the I-can't-I'm-too-scared brand.

The first time we swam here in Colorado, being new-branded-swimmers, the following took place:

"I can swim in the deep end, Mommy, watch! WATCH!!!" Cough, sputter, sputter, choke, under the water.

SPLASH! Rescue. GASP, return to breathing.

"I've got you, sweetie, it's ok... Are you ok? You may NOT go in the deep end anymore without a noodle or kick board, ok?"

"But WHY? I can SWIM!"

Uh-huh.

Swimming has been the most frequent activity here in the mountains. The pool is indoors, and at precisely 3:00pm every afternoon, when it starts to storm, we head inside and hit the pool.

They're jumping

They're splashing

Corene is even learning how to crawl on top of the water! This was a jump-while-you're-twisting trick, just looks hilarious.

Wonder Daddy time

What, you haven't seen any pictures of me? You think I hate cold water and am not Wonder Mommy? Well, you're right. This is my favorite place. This is the view from the hot tub!

Aaaaaaahhhhhh.

Colorado is art

2010-07-27T20:22:00.000-05:00

The world is a canvas that God has already painted, perfectly. I look around here, where God put extra touches on His art, and my heart rejoices "I sing for joy at the works of your hands" Ps 92:4

Learning to capture nature in my camera is one of my personal challenges on this trip. It's great fun, and also very humbling. How many times have I heard, "Pictures don't ever do the mountains justice".

This is so true, much like taking a picture of a sculpture or taking a picture of a painting isn't anything like the original.

Being IN God's creation, that's the true art experience. Here are some of my amateur attempts to capture it in my camera.

Colorado love

2010-07-25T17:06:00.006-05:00

We loooove Colorado. I highly recommend it.

We have been staying in a small town at 9000 feet elevation where Mocha Man is playing in a music festival. It's an absolutely stunningly beautiful town. The mountains surrounding it are fabulous. And not only that, but the atmosphere here is equally as fabulous, a bizarre mix of serious money, rugged-casual-outdoorsy-types (the locals claim that this is the birthplace of mountain biking), and Texans.

Yes, Texans.

I haven't yet met an extremely wealthy, outdoorsy Texan, but I'm on the lookout.

At church this morning, I noticed 3 distinct types of cars in the parking lot: SUV's with mud caked on them and bikes strapped on top, SUV's with Texas licesnse plates, and Lexus SUV's . They seriously all fit in at least one of those categories. Oh yeah, and then there was our humble little Honda Odyssey.

When people give us suggestions of good hikes to take, there's always ALWAYS the point in the conversation where they say, "... and then y'all'll go up this steep, bumpy... oh, now wait... what kind of car do y'all have??" And then they say, "Oh, no, you probably wouldn't make it up that road!"

So, y'all, we don't fit into any of the categories, even in the slightest... but it doesn't seem to matter. It's a comfortable place.

We have been swimming, hiking, walking the town, and swimming some more.

The hiking has been more fun than I expected, mostly because, well, 3 year old boys are just a mite less wimpy than I remember 3 year old girls being.

The boy can truck through some hikes.
And no good Colorado hike is complete without a cold river crossing. See the smile on their faces? Ya, Taz even enjoyed that, when the water was well above his knees at the deepest. Freakishly cold. Recently-snow-kind-of freakishly cold.

Of course, his sisters have stepped up and mothered him. And it's nothing short of a miracle that he's actually allowed it and kind of enjoyed it. I'll call this phenomenon Colorado love.

Colorado love.

Celebrate!

2010-07-05T14:40:00.003-05:00

We celebrated so many things on this July 4th. First and foremost, of course, we celebrate the constitutional freedom we have in this great country.

We celebrate with our newest family members, remembering God's abundant grace to them in recent months.

We celebrate part of the fulfillment of an almost 50 year old dream.
"I have a dream that one day...little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

We celebrate summer.

And sprinklers.

And pesky brothers.

And adorable little girls.

And birthdays (7 out of 10 of us have July birthdays!)

So much to celebrate, so much to be thankful to God for.