THE Fall

THE Fall at the Church was a significant one in Mon Amour's health journey. It's been quite the story for us and worth sharing in full for those interested.

A few days after I got home from my Maine vacation, we had a combined church congregations (aka "wards") Trunk-or-Treat. Usually I would hand out the candy because I loved interacting with all the kids. But this year I let Mon Amour stay at the van so he didn't have to maneuver walking with a cane and 3 little kids. It was nice to meet several of the grown-ups from the other ward. The next day, after church, we were getting the kids in the van. Mon Amour said he was going back in the building to use the restroom. So we waited for him. 

I turned on some Sunday radio music and sang along. I remember belting out one of my favorites that came on ("Better Than I" from "Joseph: King of Dreams") as I watched 3 teenage-ish brothers walking in to the church since their ward would be starting soon. We'd been through at least 3 songs when I was worried about him not coming out, yet. I figured he'd either slipped in the bathroom and was struggling to get back up or had had an incontinence accident. I figured if the latter, he would probably come out so he could take care of that at home. I had forgotten my phone at home and realized if he was trying to call me about a fall, I'd not hear it. But then there was also a possibility that he was busy trying to recover from fall rather than think to call me.

I told the kids I'd be right back, and I headed back in the building. As I rounded the corner to the men's bathroom, I saw the door being propped open and two adult men (aka "Brothers") standing there. I remember saying, "Yeah, I thought this might have hap--" and being cut off as I glimpsed the bathroom at the same time one of the Brothers turned around to stop me from seeing the whole scene. Though I could feel the panic rising just from the glimpse of blood I saw throughout the bathroom, he quickly and calmly explained he was a doctor, and verified that I was Mon Amour's wife. He managed to divert my panic into noticing that we had met the night before at the Trunk-or-Treat. Recognizing him from that actually did calm me down. 

To this day he still cannot recall anything about being in that bathroom leading up to the fall, which is a tender mercy but forever a mystery to the rest of us in what happened. Over time,we have pieced together what we could: Surprisingly, he used a urinal. I take great pride and gratitude in my husband's consideration that he almost always sits to use the bathroom to decrease any risk of mess. (I grew up cleaning bathrooms that were used by 6 brothers; I adore my husband for this personal choice of his.) I guess in a rush, he occasionally uses the urinal and he chose to do that. He hung his cane on the stall wall and did his business. And then THE Fall. 

Mon Amour's hypothesis was he fell trying to grab his cane from the stall wall because it was found flung on the other side of the bathroom. His shoulder and side hurt for days after the accident, and he thought he'd pulled muscles from the cane's resistance as he fell.

But I have a different guess. When first asked where he was, all he could recall was "I came in here to wash my hands" (which he no longer remembers saying). So we think the fall happened just after he washed his hands. While his pants were buttoned, his zipper was down when we found him. I think he realized he needed to zip his pants after washing his hands. Maybe he realized it while grabbing the cane and the sudden stopping of one action to do the other action made him lose his balance. It's happened many times before. Maybe he had or hadn't grabbed his cane and he lost balance trying to focus on zipping, because he has lost his balance many times just standing in one place and focused on any task other than standing.

In any case, he hit his face on something on his way down. We all assumed sink because it was most prominent to be hit and matched best with his "washing hands" comment. But there is a possibility it could have been the urinal (and why he was immediately prescribed antibiotics at the hospital). He lost consciousness after the hit. He was found by one of those teenage boys I saw going in to the building. Mon Amour remembers vaguely seeing a boy's face for a moment and then nothing. The young man immediately got a Brother from the ward about to begin, and this Brother got Brother Doctor to come with him. 

When they first asked him his name, he couldn't remember. Eventually he was able to tell his name. He didn't know where he was at first, then eventually made the washing hands comment. Once they were able to figure out who he was, they looked me up in the ward directory to give me a call. Of course, I didn't have my phone, yet. But I came in soon after that. I didn't focus on the bathroom as a whole, mostly Mon Amour sitting there, but my brain picked up that there was a lot of blood. Brother Doctor estimated that he lost a liter of blood. He said they were working on stopping the bleeding. Brother Doctor then said it was my choice, but he recommended taking him to the emergency department since he had lost consciousness. I needed to take the kids to someone to watch them, so they said they would clean him up a little before I got back. And we opted to drive him there rather than calling an ambulance. 

We found a friend who was able to watch the kids last minute. We got Mon Amour into the van. Brother Doctor followed behind in his vehicle and helped me get Mon Amour into the ER, checked in, and such. I'm very grateful for his calmness and his knowledge, as both Mon Amour and I were in shock. Once we were settled and being seen, Brother Doctor left. ER doctor sewed up Mon Amour's torn frenulum and stitched up his right eyebrow and bridge of his nose. Our ward leader ("bishop") and one of his counselors who is also our ministering brother, came in to check how things were and gave him a blessing. 

We were blessed throughout the whole experience. How soon he was found at church. My friend being able to watch the kids. Brother Doctor's involvement. That a maxillofacial surgeon was actually in the hospital at the moment and was able to not only come and consult the CT scan, but schedule us first thing the following morning. So blessed that my mother-in-law who lives 90 miles away was visiting family only 35 miles away and available to come up to us and stay with us a couple of nights to help me with Mon Amour and the kids. Blessed to find a pharmacy open when we got home to fill his pain meds. Blessed that for the first time in his life, Monkey #5 finally slept a whole night without needing a parent in the room so I could stay near my husband on the couch and help with all his needs. Blessed that Mon Amour was able to recover within a couple of months, including after his maxillofacial surgery and that the teeth righted themselves well.