Lesson Learned the Hard Way!

I just returned from Florida - it was the best weather Florida has had in January in the past 20 years!  Our days were spent on the beach all day, every day and a great surf spot developed just a few blocks down from where we were staying.  The first two weeks brought warm water and fun, clean waves nearly every day.  Our good friends were down for the month as well so it was fun to have someone to surf with since Jay and I have to take turns with our boys.  We also met some great locals in the line up and on the beach, and saw some awesome friends we’ve made through the years.

Our great vacation came with a big accident.  It was a small, clean day and we had been out for several hours catching a lot of waves.  I was paddling out to the line up on my longboard when I was knocked off into the water accompanied by a sharp pain in my face.  I had been hit by an 11 foot paddleboard that my husband was riding.  I had just paddled past him as he was taking off on a wave and somehow his board slipped out from under him and turned backwards in my direction, hitting me at an angle in my right side of my face.

While under water, all I could do was pray to God that I wouldn’t black out.  Jay and my friend Lora, who also saw it happen, were both surprised when I surfaced on my own and grabbed my board.  I was actually pretty calm, considering what just happened, and I knew I just needed to get to the beach.  The right side of my face felt numb but I realized it was a lot bigger than normal!  I tried to catch a wave in but as surfers know, when you need one to take in, nothing comes!  I ended up paddling in and when I walked out of the water, Lora had an ice pack and assessed to see if I had a concussion, which I didn’t.  To be honest, I felt okay, until my nose began to bleed, a lot.  At that point, we all decided I should get checked out medically and by the time we walked back to our place, the EMTs were arriving.

After checking me over, I was told that I seemed okay and didn’t need to go to the hospital if I didn‘t want to.  After all, if it was a fracture, there wasn’t much to do.  After they left, Jay and I realized we wanted to get x-rays for our peace of mind so we headed to the ER.  After 5 hours in the ER, including a CT-scan and lots of waiting, we were told that I had 4 fractures throughout my cheekbone and around my eye.  The concern was for my vision and the muscles of my eye getting trapped within in the bones.  My eyesight in my right eye is the most important thing to me because my left eye is not so good so imagine our anxiety thinking that something really bad could happen.  I knew I was lucky to even be alive at that point - one doctor said that if the board had hit me straight on instead of that angle, my skull would have been crushed due to the velocity of that big board.

I was discharged with some pain meds and antibiotics and wasn’t told much else except that the worse was yet to come as far as the pain was concerned.  The ER doc said I would wake up the next morning in terrible pain so imagine my surprise when I slept fine that night and woke the next morning in less pain than the night before!  My mother had so many people praying for me that it’s no wonder I was feeling as good as I was.  The power of prayer works miracles!

We decided to stay the rest of the month since no specialist wanted to see me until the swelling went down and if I had to recover it may as well be on the beach!  By the time we made the drive home 10 days later, my face almost looked normal.  I went to a plastic surgeon who said he can operate to make it perfect again or I can leave it alone and it will heal as it will, maybe giving me some character in my face (a small dent here or there is much better than the risks and pain associated with breaking my bones again!).  I am going to see an ophthalmologist this week to make sure everything with my eye is okay but it all seems to be.  I should be ready for my surf trip to Hawaii in March and boy do I deserve it!

I know how lucky I am that this wasn’t worse.  One inch higher, I could have lost my eye or worse, been hit in the temple and be dead.  One inch lower and my jaw would have been affected or knocked my teeth out.  God was looking out for me that day - I know that for sure.  The way that the board turned backwards on me was something that was so unlikely to happen but it did.  My eyes have never been so open to my own mortality and as a mother of two young boys, it really made me put things into perspective.

I have been so focused on surfing lately that my priorities were getting messed up.  I was becoming greedy for waves.  I was out for hours that day getting so many fun waves and yet I still wanted more.  I actually went in to play with my boys on the beach but watching Lora and Jay catch more waves made me want to paddle back out!  My oldest son, Kai, even asked me to not go back out and to stay and play with him but I said I would only go catch one more.  While I was paddling out, I got caught on the inside by a five-wave set .  This made me think I should just go back in since I already had plenty of great waves that day -- but I didn‘t.  Now I am really angry at myself for not listening to all of those little signs.

I am so lucky and very thankful that God took care of me that day.  I am blessed that this accident wasn’t worse and that I am here today to be with my family and still have my eyesight.  When I think of what could have been the outcome I shudder at the thought and realize that this experience was meant to teach me something.  Guess I needed a paddleboard in my face to realize I need to reprioritize!

Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts and support during this crazy time!  I can tell you that I cannot wait to paddle back out to catch some waves but I will be keeping a safer distance from everyone on any kind of board!  The fact is, Jay is an experienced surfer and look what happened.  Now think about all the inexperienced people out there, especially on the paddleboards.  Lesson learned!