The Accident

In February, I turned 25...gee that sounds old! I remember how happy I was feeling & so pleased with my family...everything seemed so right with the world! And then, February 24, 1980...Jeff was in a car accident.

He was heading to the courts to play racquet ball. He said he remembers that the racquet had fallen off the seat next to him & he reached for it...& that is all he remembered. The police report said that when they came upon the scene Jeff was locked in the car, in the driver's seat & it appeared that he was having a seizure. They had to break the car window to get to him. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital where it was determined that he had suffered a concussion. After a few hours he was released & we were told to just watch him closely for headaches, dizziness, & other side affects of a concussion.

Winston & Johnnie were there to take us home, but first they wanted to try to find our car to see how bad the damages were, so we headed downtown to the storage yard where they towed the car. On the way, Jeff had a grand mal seizure right there with me in the backseat of the Carter's station wagon. It was the scariest thing I've ever experienced. His face twisted & his body jerked - it was horrible for me to see because I couldn't bear the thought of him out of control like that & there was nothing I could do. I pulled Jeff close to me & tried to hold him. I yelled for Winston to pull over & give him a blessing...it was the only thing I could think of to do. As Winston pulled over & reached across the front seat to give Jeff a blessing, Jeff went from rigid to limp & began to vomit in my lap. We went straight back to the hospital were they did an EEG & a CAT Scan & admitted him to ICU for close monitoring & observation. More tests would follow.

As it turned out, Jeff was put on Dilantin, a medication that prevents seizure activity because he was having "partial spasmatic seizures" which were more like little day dreaming episodes or spells of confusion. The medication controls it & the doctor says he should take it at least 6 months until he has time to adjust after the trauma. Of course, my imagination went wild & even still I kept thinking of that awful seizure I saw & I prayed that it never happened again!

Jeff refuses to take the medication. He hates to talk about it & he gets mad if I ask questions. He doesn't realize that I'm only trying to understand & deal with it. If I don't talk about it then I imagine the worst & I look for the worst. He thinks I'm being pessimistic & morbid. His attitude is upsetting to me & I'm having a hard time dealing with the situation. He insists on driving which scares me to death! He doesn't want to be dependent on the medication. It's possible that if it doesn't clear up, it may keep him from being a doctor. That would destroy him! I'm so afraid he won't be happy. Maybe I am being pessimistic? I guess I should exercise more faith...surely the Lord will help this heal if we do our part? Am I trying hard enough to do the things I should?