One Year Later - Remember Family Vacation

4 am Gas Station stop for drinks before hitting the road

One year ago, we were packing our car to head to Myrtle Beach. I can't believe the amount of stuff that has happened since then. I never really talked about our family vacation last year, because honestly it was so stressful and the scariness wasn't over until December when Mom got her transplant, so I thought I might take this time to do it now.

One year ago, we fit me, Mom, Zach and Drew into my tiny Honda Civic and started the 10ish hour drive to Myrtle Beach, SC. We were heading down there for a week for a baseball tournament. We started the journey at 4 am and all I remember was how foggy it was while we were driving through West Virginia (we decided to drive East and then South, instead of driving straight down 75).

Once we got there, we were having lots of fun, going to the beach, going and riding go carts, and hanging out and exploring the city. Oh yeah, and going to baseball. The team wasn't doing very well, which surprised us because the team was actually really good, but we came to the conclusion, they were having too much fun on vacation and weren't focusing enough.

It was the last night, and their last game, and we had just set up our chairs next to the dugout, and Mom got up and walked away. I assumed she was going to the bathroom or something, so I didn't pay much attention, until she got back. She was very pale and looked pretty dizzy. I asked her if she was ok as she went to sit down, and she explained how she felt like she was going to get sick, and was very dizzy, and as she was telling me what was wrong, she started to faint. Luckily she was sitting down at this point, and I jumped up, and grabbed her shoulders and started yelling at her, and very quickly we were surrounded by teammates' parents trying to help. They ended up calling over the park urgent care guy. He took her blood pressure and said it was very  low and wanted us to take her to the ER. He said it might be that she's just dehydrated, as we spent most of the morning at the beach, but he just wanted us to be cautious and go anyways, so Zach and I walked her out to my car, only after a few parents offered to keep us updated with game details and said they'd take care of Drew, and we figured out where the closest ER was. On our way to the ER, she made me pull over because she was going to throw up, and that's when I knew something was wrong. Because she threw up blood. In a panic, we called 9-1-1 to figure out how close we were, and just drove her ourselves, and the weird thing about the ERs and the Hospitals down there, is not all the ERs are attached to a hospital. And the one we went to wasn't attached to a hospital. So after finally getting her there and getting her attached to an IV, they found her hemoglobin levels were dangerously low (well, that's because she threw up blood), and they decided they needed to do a blood transfusion, but they couldn't do that at the ER and they would need to transfer her to the hospital. At this point, we were supposed to be leaving the next day and mom was upset about having to stay in the hospital over night, but we convinced her it was what was best for her and we could take care of cleaning, packing and checking out the next day.

Tropical storm waves behind us

July 3 rolled around and the tropical storm we had been expecting all week finally showed up, so before going to get Mom from the hospital, the boys and I went to the beach to take a picture with the storm waves (see below), and the we got Mom. The staff let her go against medical advice with the promise that we were putting her in the car, driving back home, and taking her straight to the hospital. But apparently Mom's body had a different plan in order. 

We stopped to eat diner at Crackle Barrel, because Mom was so hungry since she hadn't been allowed to eat much. After a fairly large dinner for all of us, we were off again. This time, I decided to drive through South Carolina and up 75 because I didn't want to worry about trying to follow my GPS. After finally making it to 75, we stopped at the first rest stop in North Carolina, and trouble started again. I walked with Mom to the bathroom, as she was still pretty weak, and when she came out of the bathroom, she was really pale again, like the day before. We walked outside, and she told me she was going to be sick. I grabbed a trashbag that was sitting on the sidewalk (the maintenance guy was going around changing out the trash) and she threw up blood again. Zach had already pulled up the closest hospital and luckily it was only one exit up on 75, so we rushed Mom to the car, and drove there. We ran her inside and they took her back immediately and had blood hung up within 10 minutes of us being there, unlike the hospital in SC, which took us around 4 hours to have blood started. After giving them Mom's medical history, they explained to us that since they were a really small hospital, they didn't have the staff we needed, but they were going to transfer us to Asheville, NC because they had a Level 1 trauma center and they were a much larger hospital. The staff at this hospital was so friendly. We were only allowed two people back with Mom at a time, so they would sit with whoever was still in the waiting room, and they explained everything that was going on in normal terms instead of medical, and when we finally loaded Mom into the ambulance, they had directions printed off for us and told us how to get to Asheville, because they weren't sure if my GPS would have a good signal through the mountains. 

Drew trying to sleep in the car

Once we finally made it to the hospital, Mom kicked us out pretty fast and said we needed to find somewhere to sleep, I believe it was close to 2 am at this point. So when we left, the boys and I decided we would just sleep in the car, because it was already late and we would be getting up early to come back, so it wasn't worth the money to get a hotel. And since it was a holiday weekend, in a fairly popular destination spot, we didn't think we would find a hotel anyways. So we were attempting to sleep in our car, and I wasn't sleeping at all, and Drew kept tossing in the front seat, and I decided if Mom knew we were trying to sleep in the car that she would kill us, so I started the car and started on my mission to find a hotel. We went to four hotels before we finally found one that wasn't completely booked, and they told us the room was only available for that night, as they were completely booked for the 4th. We got to the room, fell asleep almost immediately, and got to shower the next morning before heading back to the hospital. We found Mom's room in the ICU and she looked so weak and slept for most of the first few days we were in the hospital. They did multiple EGDs (Upper endoscopy, also known as EGD, is a procedure in which a thin scope with a light and camera at its tip is used to look inside the upper digestive tract -- the esophagus, stomach, and first part of the small intestine, called the duodenum) to try to band off the bleeding esophageal varices. They finally explained to me what all of that meant, and that was the first time anyone discussed her needing a liver transplant. 

After telling Mom we tried to sleep in the car, the nurse overheard us and asked if anyone had talked to us about The Rathbun House. At that point, we had no idea what she was talking about, but after having someone talk to us, thank goodness for this house. Here's how The Rathbun House house defines itself: 

"The Rathbun House provides lodging and other supportive services in a "home like" environment for patients and or their caregivers coming to Asheville, North Carolina for medical treatment. Nestled in the mountains of western North Carolina, The Rathbun House is a house of comfort, hope, support, and love. Located on 18 wooded acres near Mission Hospital and only a few miles away from CarePartners and the VA Hospitals, the house offers 36 bedrooms, private baths, common areas and a large kitchen where you can prepare your own meals.

The Rathbun House is owned by Mission Foundation, who raise funds to keep the house free of charge for families in medical crisis.  The house is operated by Mission Health, Staff and Volunteers for the benefit of out of town families being served by area hospitals including Mission Health, CarePartners and VA Medical Center."

I don't know what we would have done without this house. There's no way we would have been able stay there as long as we needed because we wouldn't have had the money for hotels. They provided us with somewhere to stay when we needed it most, and I can never be thankful enough. And it's a gorgeous place! Also, I don't know what I would have done without my brothers during all of this. I was so stressed out, my phone was dying twice a day because I was trying to keep everyone at home informed with what was going on. They honestly kept me laughing, and they kept Mom laughing and I think I would have lost my mind without them there. I knew they were just as scared as I was, but they honestly never let it show. They were awesome.

When they finally discharged Mom, after spending a week in the hospital, we busted our butts to get home. I have never been so happy to see my puppy. And to think, that was just the beginning of what would be a hectic, stressful and scary next few months before Mom received her transplant. 

I can't believe how much has happened in the last 365 days, but honestly, we were so incredibly lucky the way it did happen. While it wasn't the easiest thing to deal with, we had so much support during it all, and I don't know how we would have made it without that. So thank you to all the family, friends, coworkers, boss, and Mom's doctors, and Drew's baseball team and their parents for all of the support you have given us over the last year, I don't know how we could have made it without all of you.