One year later, an update on Janessa's accident

One year ago today Janessa was in a horrific car accident around 8:30pm where her car flipped 5-6 times on the side of the interstate. I posted a picture of the car last year and asked for prayers but I never really went into detail about what happened because it brought up too many emotions- so I’d like to share that now. 

When the car started to flip the first thing she thought was to ball herself up. She said she never lost consciousness and remembers the entire thing ☹️ Once the car settled, she was able to locate her phone and call 911 and then she called me. Her first words were “I was in an accident and my car flipped & I think I broke my arm”. I thought she said it slipped. Little did I know what we were in for. I asked her to drop a pin of her location and to share her location so I could follow her in case they took her before I could make it out there. She was about 25 mins North of Brandon on I-75. Man, that was thee longest drive of my life and we frequent that area to visit my Grandmother, so I’m used to the drive. I was able to call my Mom and sister on the way to the scene. Lots of tears and fears on the way there. Driving up to the accident had to be one of the scariest moments in my entire life. The entire interstate was blocked off by ambulances and cop cars. All I could see was flashing lights for what seemed like forever. I felt like I was in a slow motion scene in a movie when I parked my car and started walking to the scene to find out where she was. Getting into the ambulance and seeing my daughter strapped down to the stretcher with blood and dirt all over her face just stopped my Mommy heart. She was so brave and strong and she told me she was okay. I told her I loved her and Chot and I were here for her and we would meet her at the hospital. I called Janessa’s Dad on the way there and it just so happened he was in town. He told us he would meet us out there at AdventHealth Wesley Chapel. Once we got to the hospital the ER had to admit her before they would let me back. I sat in the waiting room with my amazing husband by my side trying to keep me calm. I text a few people to let them know what happened and asked for prayers. My poor cousin Brooke was down from Michigan and we had just gotten done with dinner when I got the call. She jumped into Super Mommy mode and took Makenzie home to my house with her and her kids while we went to be with Ness. I could never thank her enough for being there in that time of need, especially since my sister was in Jacksonville with Kim and her family. 

Well they finally let me back to see her, poor thing was still being so brave but then she broke down. She said, “I haven’t been able to process this yet” & she began to cry. It was so hard to console her because she had a neck brace on and her one wrist was broken and elbow was out of joint. But I held her hand and kissed her forehead. That night they tried to pop her elbow back into place but it was unsuccessful. After that a nurse and I tried to clean Janessa up, wiping off the blood and dirt as best we could. Shaking glass shards and clumps of dirt from her hair. The nurses in the ER were amazing. They were on top of everything and so helpful and knowledgeable. We were finally moved to a room about 4am. They told us an ortho surgeon would visit us in the a.m. to discuss the elbow and wrist. We tried to sleep that night but her pain level was high and she kept getting sick from the pain meds on an empty stomach. They weren’t allowing her to eat in case she needed surgery the next day. Well we met with the on call ortho, Dr. Nalley, and he put her under and put the elbow where it should be and tried to set her wrist as well. He informed us she would need surgery on the elbow since she tore tendons and there were bone fragments floating around in there and she would also need a plate in her wrist as well and that a colleague of his, Dr. Gaskins, would perform the surgery the next day. So back to the room we went and she still couldn’t eat because of possible surgery and the meds were still making her sick 😕  that made for another long night. 

Janessa’s Dad and I had switched off nights and I was able to finally go home and shower on Sunday night. I was hoping I would get a good nights sleep in my bed but ended up having a sick daughter at home too. Makenzie had a fever of 103 and was supposed to go to Universal the next day with me as a chaperone, with her Orchestra class but that didn’t happen. I headed back to the hospital Monday morning and relieved Janessa’s Dad- they told us the surgery would be late afternoon so he was going home to shower as well and head back. Well they took her back sooner than expected. I went to pre-op with her and kissed her before she went in. I went to the cafeteria to grab a snack since I didn’t have much of an appetite at this point and just wait. As I was waiting my sister and John showed up. We waited in that waiting area for what seemed like forever. Drinking all the water and using the bathroom a million times. Dr. Gaskins came out after a few hours and told us everything went well, they placed the plate and screws in the wrist and he also placed an anchor in her elbow when he fixed the tendons. He felt she had a great chance of a full recovery especially since she was so young (20). Janessa had a few cute visitors while at the hospital- her baby sister Nova and little brother Vander came to visit with her Dad and Cindi. Aunt Kort and Kim came to see her as well and Chot brought Cade and Makenzie up to see her as well and we had dinner in her hospital room. Janessa and I spent a few more days in the hospital, an infection at the IV site and a superficial blood clot later and we were finally released. We had to follow up with infectious disease and her infection went away nicely. She had to have 6 months of occupational therapy on her arm and elbow, appts were 2-3 times a week. And she started seeing a therapist weekly so that she could eventually get back on the road, that took 9 months. 

Thank you’s are not enough to the people that stepped up and helped our girl during this time. We got several beautiful floral arrangements and gift cards to help with meals. Her grandmother Cindy brought her to almost every OT and therapist session she had due to her Dad and I having to work. Never once hesitating, always showing up when needed. Big thank you's to my family and John's family~ Janessa definitely has a lot of people that love and care for her.

Here are some pictures I never shared but I feel the need to because they told me if she wasn’t wearing her seat belt she wouldn’t be here. Please share with your teen drivers! Janessa was always a cautious driver, not even taking the road alone til 18 & this was a one car accident because she hydroplaned on the wet interstate. 

Here we are 1 year later and my daughter has a new appreciation for life. Things could’ve been much worse but she acted fast in a very scary situation. I threw in a few pictures I took of her on her 21st birthday a few weeks ago, March 26th!