A not so ordinary day

Monday morning was just another ordinary day.  I got up and started laundry, fixed breakfast and mopped floors before we headed out to piano lessons.  While the girls were at their lessons I did some quick shopping at Walmart ( I now get to take all three little boys with me since McKenzie got married! :o)  When we got home we unloaded groceries and fixed lunch.  After lunch I got Malachi started on some school work, laid the baby down for a nap and went upstairs with Myles.  I laid on his bunk bed with him to just spend some time with him reading books.  I remember thinking to myself how nice it was to not have anything pressing to do.  The wedding was over and life was resuming to "normal".

I went back downstairs and kept thinking I needed to get out and get my run for the day over with.  I was already off schedule because I normally would have done it in the morning.  I was just about to go change into my running clothes when the phone rang.  When I answered it there was a female's voice on the other side and I heard her talking to someone else right as I answered the phone.  I heard her say, "He's conscious but breathing hard."  When she realized I had answered the phone she said,  "Mrs. Maynor you need to come to the office quickly.  We have called an ambulance for Mr. Maynor; he's not doing well."  This is NOT the kind of phone call you want to get.  Your mind immediately goes crazy.  I started rushing around getting my purse together while asking her questions.  I told the kids that daddy was sick and I had to go.  I ran and got into our twelve passenger van and drove faster than I have ever driven in my life, down a country road to the neighboring county where he works.  Once in my van I realized that after ten years of living here that I didn't even know how to get to his office!  I called back and one of his co-workers talked me all the way there.  She kept trying to figure out where I was to see if I needed to just go to the hospital instead.  They were trying to decide if they should life flight him or take him in the ambulance, but we knew he was being taken to a hospital in a larger town about 30 minutes away.  I ended up getting to the office in time to meet the ambulance and they let me ride with them.  I don't know that I would have made it driving there myself.  When I saw Marc he was not doing well.  He would answer questions but was no where near acting like himself.  I was so thankful that the driver was a Christian.  He was exactly what I needed during that time.  Once we got to the hospital and got out at the ER,  Marc had gotten worse.  His speech was slurred and he could hardly move his limbs.  Everything pointed to a stroke.  It was at this point that I about lost it.  I called my oldest sister and asked her to come.  It was almost a three hour drive for her but she didn't hesitate!  Sisters are the best!  They did a CT scan and it came back clear.  The doctor told me that it takes a while for damage to show up on a scan and since they didn't see any bleeds that we had to make a decision.  He asked me if we wanted him to have TPA (the stroke medication that has to be given within a four hour window after the onset of symptoms.)  Marc couldn't verbalize a whole lot but he was shaking his head "no".  I looked at him and knew he would not be happy living his life in a wheelchair and having slurred speech.  I talked to my sister (she is a nurse) and she called our aunt who has been a nurse for years.  They told me they thought we needed to do it.  That was really hard!  TPA can have some pretty devastating side affects during the first hours after giving it.  Not a decision I wanted to have to make for him, but I did.

The TPA was given and then he was moved to the neuro intensive care unit.  Social media definitely has it's downside but that day it was great.  The news spread so quickly there were people all over the country praying for him!  Our phones were going off like crazy with text messages from people praying.  I certainly felt the prayers.  Within just a few hours his speech returned to normal and by the next morning he was much stronger.  They ran every test under the sun on him and did blood tests I had never even heard of.  His MRI came back clear.  The only thing that was off was his b12 and potassium.  He has been on a diet (patterned after the Trim Healthy Mama diet in which I think is a very dangerous diet...... That is a whole different topic!) and lost 30 pounds this summer.  I knew he hadn't looked good lately and his energy level was really low.  We still don't have any answers except that a lot of things have been eliminated.  We know that his heart is very healthy and he didn't have a heart attack, we know there aren't any tumors or anything like that.  We know there wasn't any seizure activity.  I would love an explanation for it all but I truly believe the Lord protected him!

When you go through something like that it really makes you ponder things.  Life is short and so very fragile!  Love the people that God has put in your life, you never know when they could be taken away.  Good friends are a treasure!  We had a huge group of friends that came to the ER to be with us.  That is such a blessing!

Well, it is late..... I wanted to journal all of this while it was still fresh on my mind.  I am not going to do any proofreading, so don't critique my writing! :o)  I will try to finish posting pictures from McKenzie and Daniel's wedding soon.  They are doing well and are very happy!

We are BLESSED!