Arriving in Townsville...

A few days before arriving in Townsville we had some fantastic news… After 6 years of trying, 1 miscarriage & 1 ectopic pregnancy, in Brisbane we found out we were pregnant. It was our 2^nd attempt at IVF. In Airlie Beach we had a blood test that showed extremely high HCG levels which indicates multiple births, so you can imagine how excited we were! The egg had split and we were expecting indentical twins or more…

We arrived on Thursday the 14^th of June in Townsville. Thursday was a crazy day, searching for houses & then finding out we had no accommodation booked for us. It was quiet a stressful day. Finally we got checked into a hotel where we were going to be spending the next week until our house was ready to move into.

Friday the 15^th of June after eating lunch we decided to drive up to bushland beach and have a look around. On our way back I asked Don to pull over as I was experiencing cramping and thought I needed to go to the bathroom. The pain was quiet bad & I thought I had food poisoning from the Chicken Subway we had for lunch. I had severe cramping & thought I might even have gastro, after about 10mins Don called out to me to see if I was ok & I told him I was but after another 10 or so mins he called out to me & I told him to come in. Don said that as he walked in, I had taken all my clothes off & I was sweating so much. He asked if I could get up but I told him I couldn’t. I was so sick & had no energy, I was throwing up & said I think I was going to faint. I was in and out of consciousness & asked him for a blessing. Don said that as I said that I slumped onto him still on the toilet with no energy, still sweating, he gave me a blessing, he says was it the most sincere & pleading prayer to Heavenly Father asking to save me. I don’t know how long I was out but in that time Don asked the lady from the gas station to call an ambulance & they were on there way. Don said that as soon as the blessing was over I passed out. He then picked me up off the toilet & laid me onto the bathroom floor & put me in the recovery position. As I was being laid down he said I had some sort or seizure, and itthat lasted only a couple of seconds.

The next thing I felt was a hand rest on my shoulder & a voice that was smooth & calming say to me… “Its Ok, you can open your eyes now”.. And so I did. When I came to, I was laying on the bathroom floor of the gas station with Don trying to get me to wake up. He was pouring cold water all over my body which I remember felt so good. Don says that that ½hr of waiting will stay with him forever. I think the ambulance took about 20mins to get to me & when they did they treated me for gastro. We headed for hospital & I was taken into the emergency department where I waited for doctors to see me.

At first there were a few doctors asking me the usual… Whats your name? Whats your age? What Happened? They decided I needed to have an IV to get my fluids up so they started looking for veins. They couldn’t find any… My arms were jabbed, my hands… then other doctors came in & tried at my hands & then more doctors at my neck… I suddenly realised that they was about 20 doctors in my partitioned off area in the ER. I started thinking so many doctors & at one time I had 5 of them trying to get a drip into me. It wasn’t working and I think I was drifting in & out. Next thing I knew was, my leg felt like it had been broken, Don said he could hear me screaming from the waiting room he was in. He then insisted that he be by my side... if I was going to pass away he wanted to be there even though the doctors insisted he shouldn’t. He then was allowed to stand by my side & as he saw me he says he fell to his knees & cried. The doctors were asking him about my history & everything about me in order to help me. He said to one of the surgeons…”today you will earn your money…please save her”.

Because they could not find a vein anywhere else they had drilled into the bone of leg, into the marrow to get some fluids into me. I remember screaming so loud & crying, it was extremely painful & I just wanted to go home. I still had not been given pain relief but at the point I remember thinking… I’m still alive?! And somehow that was comforting. It had taken them 45mins to get a line (IV) into me.

I saw Don’s face behind all the doctors & he was telling me that He Loved Me & I’d be alright, over & over again… at that point they were rushing me into theatre to operate. Don was beside me all the way into theatre. Don was trying to be brave for me but I knew things weren’t good. When I arrived in theatre I remember looking into the eyes of one of the doctors, she was so pretty, & I trusted her, I remember thinking she would be the last person I would see, I was ready to die & I thought I was going to die, but I was calm & at peace & ready. I’ve never been afraid of dying, and in that moment I was almost happy in a strange kind of way. I knew I was in the best place I could be & if not I was going home to be with our Heavenly Father & at the thought of that I felt so much LOVE.

I woke up in the ICU & had the most wonderful nurse, Jennifer. I will never forget how kind she was. After the surgery I had IV’s out of both hands & one out of my neck from my jugular with 3 lines coming off that one. I was on morphine & other pain meds. With Stitches in my belly button (where they tried to go in first) & a massive cut across my belly from mid thigh to mid thigh. Lots of pinholes where they had tried to find my veins & bruising starting to appear.

I was in surgery for 3 ½ hours & had internal bleeding & that they almost lost me a few times in theatre. I had lost 65% of my blood & it was touch & go through the surgery. I needed a blood transfusion, 10 units of blood.

In ICU

Recovering in my room

On the phone to dad

Removing the IV from my neck... It was SO LONG!

My scar is 24cm or 9 1/2"

A few days after coming home, Rekki arrived from Sydney

We are so grateful for all your love & prayers. We are truly grateful to the nurses & doctors from Townsville Hospital. For those people who donated blood that I had to use which saved my life. And for Mum, Tayce & Marley coming up to help us, as I have needed 24hr care. I am so grateful for their time, kindness & help. In total I was lucky to have someone here to look after me for 8 weeks.

Im very thankful and feel ever so blessed to still be here & to enjoy more time with Don, I love him so much!