A HAPPY update from Maryland

Ok - well, the past few days have been a big blur...

Friday morning, while rushing to get kids to school & myself there for an awards assembly (yay Shelby & Reagan) I received a call from Michael's commanding officer. Michael was found in his bed that morning unresponsive, and the e.m.t.s took him to the hospital where he was in ICU hooked up to a ventilator. He told me that we needed to get out to Maryland within the next 24 hours so that I could make medical decisions because I am listed as his next of kin. He didn't have any other information but told me he would call me when he did. At this point it had been about 6 hours since they found him and he was still completely unresponsive and now they were saying it was an apparent overdose of one the MANY prescriptions the army docs have had him on.

I called Bishop Clark Everitt, who was able to get me the number for the Bishop out here, who was able to coordinate getting Michael a Priesthood blessing. Paul & I went into a crazy whirlwind of what to do with the kids, getting a flight, packing, getting winter wear etc...

What seemed like forever later we got some good news, Michael appeared to be trying to turn his head when they yelled his name & shook his arm. This was a good sign, but it was all very touch & go.

Saturday morning we were on our way to the airport when we got a call saying that Michael was breathing on his own & tried to speak a little, which was a great sign, although now there were even more questions as to what happened.

We saw Michael last night, but he was really out of it and had a babysitter in his room. It was great to see him, but he looked pretty beat up. They were able to tell us that his brain function appeared to be normal, but they were concerned because he had (and still has) a heart block. I kept asking questions that no one could answer for me - Michael has been doing really great for the past 6 months or so, has been totally positive about life, and has never done anything like this before, it just didn't make sense... an overdose?

When I went to the hospital this morning, Michael was awake, alert, hungry, and wanting to know why everyone thinks he wants to hurt himself... He was insisting to everyone that he loved his life, but he couldn't remember what happened.

The hospital psychiatrist finally came in and had a long talk with him and decided that it was not an attempt to hurt himself, but that he should have never been prescribed the meds that did this to him. More than likely, he took his meds twice Thursday night, which caused lots of problems including a seizure.

We're not done yet, still waiting to see how his heart recovers, but they think he is going to be ok. His commanding officer is opening a medical review to find out what went wrong and where, and who knows if we will ever find out ourselves, but we have learned that Michael cannot take TCA's anymore (a type of antidepressant they used to try to prevent his migraine headaches). The prescription wasn't helping his headaches, so they just kept telling him to take more & see what happened. Well, THIS is what happened. I'm sure I'll be angry later on, but for now I'm busy...

I need a nap ---- Thanks so much to everyone who was fasting, praying, and holding Michael & our family in our hearts. Once again Heavenly Father has taken care of my family - I am so blessed!!! Love to everyone!