Monday, June 02, 2008

You Never Think . . . .

You never think those bad things you see on the news will happen to you. They always happen to someone else. I'll watch the news and view the sadness, sad for the victums - but glad it wasn't me or my family. . .

5AM on Saturday morning, bad news entered my world. HWH received a call on his cell phone, while he was listening on his cell our land line rang. My Mom's next door neighbor was on the other line. "Angi, your Mom's house has burned down. They've taken your Mom to the hospital". Paul was receiving the same news from my uncle (my cousin was staying with my Mom and had just gotten home to the chaos at about 4:45am).

I call my sister to deliver the news. She and I are in panic mode. HWH tells me to calm down - calm down so I can drive. I dress, grab some breakfast and a book and head to the hospital. Sister and I arrive at the same time. We go in and are taken back to see her. She's sedated, with a tube down her throat, soot all over her. We talk to the doctors and nurses. Find out she was recesitated at the scene. They tell us there is significant carbon monoxide poisioning and probable lung damage. The first step is to transfer her to Duke for several treatments in the hyperbaric chamber. Those treatments will remove the carbon monoxide from her body so there won't be any brain or body damage. After that they will evaluate her lungs. Mericasouly, there is not one single burn on her body!

She is transfered to Duke at about 7am and in the camber by 9am. We wait. Then she's taken to ICU, we wait. Doctors check her out and evaluate her condition. The news is very optomistic. She is progressing nicely - indicating no bad damage to the lungs or airways. Two more hyperbaric camber treatments, the removal of the tubes, and she was sent to a regular room Sunday afternoon. Monday afternoon she was discharged at about 3pm. (She was on the same hall on Senator Kennedy!)

Her first request was to go by her house. Once there, the tears came. It was a total loss. We were able to salvage her mother's china and some other items that were stored away in closets (old pictures and photo albums). Other than that it is all gone. Thankfully, she doesn't seem to upset by the loss of the stuff. She seems to just be happy to be alive. To have survived such a bad fire, with as little injury as she had.

The 911 call was made by the neighbors. Their dog woke them up barking. (My mom will never curse that yapping dog again!) It appears my Mom never woke (she has insomnia and takes sleeping pills at night). When the firemen got there they looked at the fire and were not expecting anyone to be alive inside. They went in, and within two minutes of getting her out of her bedroom, the ceiling collapsed.

In my mind - I see her guardian angels holding that ceiling up until she was drug out. I see them holding the flames to the front part of the house until she was safe. I imagine them waking the dog and her neighbors. I see them keeping the roads clear, the hero firemen availble and fast. I see those angels doing the work of God.

Thank you God, for my mother's safety. I pray you use this experience to draw us all closer to you.

Check back later this week for pictures . . . . .

8 comments:

Janelle and Ella said...

Oh my goodness! I am SO sorry!! That is very scary. This is an amazing testimony of God's protection. I'm so glad everything turned out okay.

Unknown said...

thank you for sharing this story. God is good!!! Im sorry for all the fear you felt and glad she is okay

Brandie said...

Oh wow! I'm sooo glad your mom is okay - what a story.
Sorry about the loss of stuff though - I know it's not important but my dh went through a fire (like 4 days after our wedding but before his stuff was moved out) and even though we were all grateful that no one was hurt - sometimes, it can be hard to lose those more important things too.

The Gang's Momma! said...

So sorry for your mother's loss, but rejoicing with you that she was rescued! Grateful to the Lord with you that you all have each other - the "stuff" matters less in that view, doesn't it?!

Jill said...

Oh my, Angi. I'm so very sorry to hear about the fire, but so happy that your mom is going to be OK. I can't even imagine the terror and fear you all must have felt. And, it is SO TRUE that the bad things always seem to happen to others.

Shawna said...

What devastating news! But, praise God your mom is ok. I'll be praying for you all.

Anonymous said...

I had no idea you all had gone through this. I am so thankful your mother is okay.

It is so tragic, I am sure, to lose your home and so many of your memories and treasures.

Thanks be to God for His protection!

Misty said...

Oh my goodness! I feel so horrible. I have been so consumed in our own junk this summer. I had your blog address (from our swap) but I just hadn't had the chance to sit down and come over. I am SOOOOO sorry!
I wish I'd known so I could have been praying for you and your family this entire time. Never too late to start that, however! Thank God! He is so faithful... What an amazing thing...