On Wednesday, September 10th, it was a rainy day. I had just left work for lunch and called Harold's cell phone, as I always do. He didn't answer, which is not unusual. So, I didn't think much about it. About 10 minutes later, Harold called me back. He was talking fast and kept telling me that someone had wrecked his truck. But, he couldn't tell me where he was. I was about to panic! Earlier that morning, he had called to tell me he was going to Angier to order some plants for a new Taco Bell. So, I immediately thought he was somewhere between Angier and Fayetteville. And I couldn't tell you where Angier is or how to get there. After talking with him for a couple minutes, I asked him again where he was. I heard him walking...then he told me that the names of the cross-streets on where he was. He was only 5 minutes away in a neighborhood! I rushed to get to where he was and drove up on chaos. Harold had run through 2 yards, took down some fencing, and barely hit the back of a brick house. Harold was crying and couldn't get his thoughts together. Harold blacked out and no one seemed to know what happened. All you could see were skid marks from where he left the pavement and barreled through two yards. You wouldn't believe what was going through my mind.
On the way to find Harold, I called my mom and Harold's mom. So, people were starting to show up shortly after I did. The scary part was that Harold didn't remember anything!! We needed answers. So, we took Harold to the urgent care. Our wait seemed like forever! Harold was still not talking clear. He kept repeating himself. And I was SCARED to death!!
After several hours in the urgent care and NO answers. Harold's mom called Dr. Rucker at his home, Harold's primary doctor. He told us to meet him at his office at 8AM the next morning. Having Harold at home that night was having a newborn baby. I woke up every hour and half to check on him. If I didn't hear him snoring, I would wiggle him to make him grunt. What?? He didn't know! :)
So, the next morning, with our stomachs still in knots, we went to see Dr. Rucker. He did blood work, Xrays and ordered a CT scan. After we left his office, I drove Harold by the accident because he still didn't remember anything about it. He was in disbelief. Trust me, when you look at how many BIG pine trees, the house, and everything else that Harold could have ran into and didn't, you would also believe that someone else was driving that truck for him. Crazy thing is...where he wrecked his truck, is the same neighborhood where I grew up. I could see my old house from there. Perhaps my daddy was steering that truck for him? I'd like to think so! My daddy only wanted the best for me...I was his little "tomboy"! And if my daddy could meet Harold, I know that he would approve! And he didn't approve of ANYBODY! :P
I took some pictures of the yards while we were there and pictures of the truck later that day.
Ok..so you see what I mean. So now, we're on the way for the CT scan at Highsmith. As soon as we left there, Harold wanted to go by his office. We weren't there 30 mins before Dr. Rucker called and wanted us to come back to the office. Harold said "is it good news?". Dr. Rucker said "Well, there are some things I need to discuss with you and your wife." That was the longest 5 minute drive!! Harold was steady talking on the phone about work, while I am about to go out of my mind thinking of everything that could be wrong! When we get there, we are called back immediately. Dr. Rucker told us that there was an "abnormality" in the CT scan. Of course, he said it could be a shadow or a cyst or a tumor. I started crying...I couldn't grasp what he was telling us. All I could think about was...I cannot go through this again. I could not lose Harold period! I needed him by my side. We are going to be the old couple in Walmart acting a fool, trying to embarass our kids and grandkids!
Dr. Rucker said that Harold needed a MRI to determine exactly what it could be. So, 9AM on Friday, Sept 12, we were scheduled for the MRI. As soon as it was finished, we went back to Dr. Rucker's office to patiently wait for the results. About an hour later, Dr. Rucker's nurse called us back for the news we had tried to prepare for. No way this was happening! A BRAIN TUMOR?
All we could do was drive home and tried to understand what was going on, why it was happening to us, and what we were going to do. Dr. Rucker's nurse called that afternoon with our appt time for the following Tuesday at Duke Clinic with Dr. Allen Friedman (one of the best brain surgeons in the country)!.
Now we wait...and we wait...for 4 more days to drive to Duke.
No comments:
Post a Comment