A Message from Hannah

Hi Everyone, On March 20, 2012 I was hit by a car on Hwy 10 in Price. I was in a coma for 2 weeks while my body and brain were working really hard trying to heal. I suffered many broken bones...multiple skull fractures, broken mandible, 6 broken ribs, both clavicles, orbital, shattered pelvis, a broken vertebrae and two broken fingers. When I was hit, my brain slammed against my really hard skull resulting in bleeding, swelling and bruises on my brain. My left eye was so swollen it looked like I had a golf ball under my eyelid and it bruised instantly to a lovely shade of green. I was Life Flighted to Primary Children's Hospital and when my family first saw me after the doctors and nurses were done doing their thing I had tubes and lines coming out of every limb, a ventilator tube was coming out of the mouth and I had tubes going into my nose. I was hooked up to a computer monitor and had a bank of 8 medicine monitors next to that. I was a mess!!! After two weeks in ICU, I was moved to the Neuroscience Trauma Unit. It took about a week to fully come out of the coma. My eyes were clouded over, it was hard to move my left arm and leg. I had had a tracheotomy about a week after I got to the hospital and I couldn't talk because of the hole in my neck. I had a feeding tube going into my nose and down to my intestines. It was hard to do much of anything. I wasn't very happy being at the hospital because I didn't understand what was going on...why all these nurses were messing with me. At the end of that week, things started looking up. I started spending more time in physical and occupational therapy, first learning how to hold myself up in a sitting position, kicking my legs, crawling and finally walking. I had been on my back for 3 straight weeks and hadn't had much to eat so I was very, very weak. But I really wanted to be able to do all things I had done before the accident so I kept trying. I had to re-learn how to swallow, cough and clear my throat. These sound like such basic things but they are absolutely vital to staying healthy and getting stronger. I started speech therapy and they are helping me re-learn how to talk and express myself. I've had many visitors from family and friends to teachers and classmates which helped keep my spirits up. Last week, the nurses thought I would be able to come home in 3-4 weeks. I finally got a day pass to go outside the hospital last weekend. I went to the zoo on Saturday with my parents and Jaxton. My favorite animal was the gorilla. On Sunday we went to the Discovery Museum and Sugarhouse Park. It was really hot but it felt so good to be outside in the fresh air. I've been working really hard in my therapies and I have great news...I'm coming home tomorrow!!! I can't wait to sleep in my own bed, eat good food, play with my toys and have all my favorite people close to me. I still have to be really careful, though. It takes a long time for a brain to heal and if I fall or hit my head I could fall back into a coma. I don't want that to happen. I like being awake. :) Here are a few pictures that my grandpa took yesterday...

This is my awesome physical therapist. She is so happy and positive and she knew I could get better and kept pushing me to try new things.

Me with the feeding tube...

Me without the feeding tube! Awww, that feels better. I know that you all have said many, many prayers for me and I'll never be able to thank you all. I know that Heavenly Father has been watching over me and I know that he does answer prayers. I know that the blessings I received in those first critical hours helped me to be at peace while my body was healing and I know that the doctors and nurses were also blessed so they could take care of me. I'm coming home and I can't wait to see you all!!! Love, Hannah