CLOSE CALL.....

On Thursday morning at about 2:30 I woke up with a horrific headache. I woke up Brad and told him that this is absolutely the worst headache I've ever had. He went upstairs and got me some medicine. I took it and a short time later threw it up. I woke up three more times to throw up. Every time I was sweating bullets. I checked my blood sugar which registered normal. I got out a thermometer and checked my temperature. I did not have a fever which I found strange despite my other symptoms.

I really did not want to miss work because it was the company Christmas party and I was to make balloons all day for employees (on the clock) instead of doing my real work. I was really looking forward to it and did not want to call in. At about 7:30 I called my boss and told him that I had been throwing up all night and could not come in.

I couldn't hear outside of my head. I was hearing my heart beating and swooshing sounds. It was something that I had never experienced before.

At about 9:00 am I called my doctor's office and made an appointment for 11:00. I laid back down next to Brad. I woke him up at about 10:00 and told him that we needed to get up so he could take me to my appointment. He stood up and told me that he was feeling dizzy. Around that time my mother-in-law called us from upstairs. She said that she had been throwing up and could not get out of bed and that she had called in to work.

Suddenly my mind became clear. Something told me that this was carbon monoxide poisoning. I told Brad that he needed to come outside with me right now. Earlier in the morning I could barely get from the couch to my bed but at that moment it was like I floated up the stairs. It came so easy to me. I went out onto the patio and sat in a snow filled chair. After a few deep breaths the nausea was completely gone. We had the patio door wide open and Brad was sitting on a kitchen chair just inside the door. It was zero degrees that morning and I can't say that I blame him for not wanting to come out. He kept trying to close the door but I wouldn't let him.

I called the fire department. I didn't want anyone to think I was over reacting so I thought, "I'm just going to call the non-emergency number and ask them to come check it out." Well, I called the non-emergency number and when I told the operator that I suspected carbon monoxide she transferred me to 911 dispatch. Within 3 minutes we had 2 fire trucks, 2 ambulances and a few other emergency vehicles at our house. The street was blocked off.

The carbon monoxide level in anyone's home should be ZERO. We were told that at a reading of 200, a person would be dead within 5 minutes. When they brought the reader into the house it went straight to 45 and climbed until it got to 145. They got us all out and transported us to the hospital in the ambulances. We spent the next couple of hours in the emergency room and the following 3 hours in the hyperbaric chamber to remove the poison from our blood. We had to return today for two more 90 minute sessions in the chamber.

All is once again well in the Wendt household. Santa brought us some early Christmas presents. We are grateful for some carbon monoxide detectors, a new furnace, and another chance at life.

We want to thank all of the first responders, the firemen and EMTs, all of the emergency room personnel, Dr. Worth and all of his staff in the hyperbaric section and the countless neighbors, freinds and family that reached out to help us. Thank you so much everyone. We owe you big time!!!

I'm so grateful to the Lord helping us to realize what was going on. I'm thankful that He gave Brad and I the strength to get up the stairs when previously we could barely get from the bedroom to the couch. I'm grateful that my mother-in-law alerted us to her symptoms. Without that the realization of the seriousness of the problem may not have come about. All of these things were absolute miracles that morning. Without any one of those events we may not be here today. I'm grateful that the Lord spared each of our lives. I hope that I can be a better person and not take this second chance for granted.

Brad gets oxygen in the ambulance while waiting to be transported.

Donald breaths some good air while waiting to be taught about the hyperbaric chamber.

Jaynann gets her neck measured to be fitted for the sexy helmets we got to wear in the chamber.

Waiting to go into the hyperbaric chamber for our second "dive."

Inside the chamber waiting to start. The headphones were for the movie that we watched. That session we saw National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

This tank stores water but we got a kick out of the sign which was meant to be facetious.

Another hillarious sign

Thanksgiving 2009

We spent Thanksgiving this year in Phoenix and had a wonderful time. It was Brad and Myself and his parents, Donald and Jaynann. We were visiting Brad's sister Kelly, her husband Christian, and their son Baby J.

Phoenix has tons fo palm trees which I don't recall having ever seen before.

Phoenix also has tons of cacti. Not the little ones that you see growing along the ground randomly, but the giant ones with the arms that, until you see a real one, you think only are found in the cartoons.

This is Kelly and Christian's backyard. Christian designed the pool himself. Although the weather was absolutely beautiful while we were there, the water in the pool was way too cold for swimming in.

This is the view from the back yard. Don't you just love all those cacti?

This is Christian and Baby J.

Baby J. What a cutie.

This is Anne's dog, Charlie. Anne is one of Kelly's best friends. Charlie is the perfect dog. I love Charlie.

Grandma Jaynann and Baby J hangin' out.

Baby J loves the show, "The Imagination Movers." We watched it alot during the week.

For lunch on Thanksgiving Day we had appetizers. This awesome vegetable tray was brought by Christian's brother, Skip.

Skip also brought a very delicious fruit tray. It was wonderful.

The table looked great!! Kelly did an awesome job and was absolutely the perfect hostess!!

Thanks Kelly!!

Jaynann did the turkey. This turkey was the most moist turkey I've ever had. It was wonderful!!

Donald carved the turkey and did a great job.

Charlie supervised the turkey carving, hoping that some would fall on the floor.

Anne prepared the potatoes.

Kelly got the serving spoon ready.

I made the rolls from scratch and have been informed that I will be in charge of the rolls from now on. YAY!!

Everybody enjoyed the feast. I tried everything and everything was wonderful. The stuffing, yams, cranberries, potatoes and turkey. It was all so good. It seemed that everyone was so pleased with how it all turned out.

On the day after Thanksgiving, Anne took me hiking. Anne is an amazing athlete. She has participated in at least three iron man events. She is a teriffic inspiration.

I love hiking and this was a great hike. It was about a mile to the road at the top and it was steep. I had a great time and the view and weather were beautiful. I wish I had worn shorts.

Anne, Charlie and myself at the top. Well done everyone!!!

From the road we could see 25 to 30 bikers going further up the mountain.

We even came across a geochache. If you've never been geocaching you should try it. We weren't looking for any caches but recognized it as soon as we saw it.

We could see downtown Phoenix from the road at the top of the trail we hiked.

Later that evening the whole family went to look at Christmas lights. I loved seeing the giant cacti all lit up.

See? Pretty cool huh?

We left Phoenix on Saturday morning. We stopped at this lookout on Glen Canyon.

This is the Glen Canyon Dam.

We found a port-a-potty on the edge of a cliff. We couldn't get a good rating because it was padlocked shut. But we find it hillarious at the weird and random places you can find a port-a-potty.

We saw some pretty amazing scenery along the way. I thought this was pretty incredible. I can't wait to go back to Arizona.

Our First Vacation

This past week Brad and I had the opportunity to travel to Dietrich, Idaho to see my folks. I was desparate for a break from my three jobs and I really miss my hubby when we are apart for so many hours of the day. We enjoyed the four hour drive do Dietrich together. Upon arriving in town Brad's comment was "I'm NOT impressed." But by the end of the trip he admitted that it had kind of grown on him.

The town's welcome sign doesn't mention the population. I'm guessing it's because there isn't one. Just kidding. It is a small town but you've never met a nicer bunch of folks.

This is the Dietrich High School. Actually, it's just the Dietrich school. It holds grades K-12.

My dad is the librarian here and my mom frequently substitute teaches.

I thought this was kind of neat. It's an elk BBQ pit. I believe it was built by the high school metal shop class (if anyone from Dietrich is reading this and knows for sure who built it and what for please leave a comment).

This is Dietrich's main intersection. The cinderblock building with the red garage door is the Dietrich City Hall. My mom was re-elected to the city council during our visit.

This is the Dietrich Mercantile aka "The Merc." The rumor is that they used to sell gas once upon a time but they no longer do. If you want to buy gas it's an eight mile drive to the next town down the road...Shoshone.

Brad visits with one of the locals in the Merc.

Just wanted to show everyone the inside of the Mercantile. Great place for that chocolate fix or for a cold soda. They can also hook you up if you run out of milk. You can get a little more in Shoshone than in Dietrich but if you want Wal-Mart it's about 30 minutes to Jerome and the nearest mall, Costco, Target, ShopKo etc. you're looking at a 45 minute drive to Twin Falls.

I think you can get Idaho Spud Bites in just about every convenience store in Idaho.

This is a lovely pasture of goats (in town) at the end of the road that my parents live on.

This is the back yard of my parent's next door neighbor, complete with well and outhouse.

Close up of the outhouse.

This is inside the Snack Bar in Shoshone. Brad ordered the medium cone. He got a couple of good bites off before I could get a picture. This is about the size of the small cone.

This is the Little Wood River where it runs through the city park in Shoshone. When I was about 12 years old I would come to this park and jump off of that bridge (the water level was much higher at that time).

The current would then carry me through the park.

When I got to the foot bridge I would grab it and pull myself across and do it all over again. It was so much fun.

Brad took this picture of me in front of this awesome tree in the Shoshone City Park.

This is Mom's dog Tootsie.

Brad and Tootsie got along just great all week.

We snapped this picture of a wavy outhouse near Jerome, Idaho.

On the way home from our trip we stopped in Roy, Utah at the U.S. Air Force Museum. Brad was absolutely in Heaven. He loves military aircraft and knows everything about every plane we saw there. Brad points out the C-54.

Here he is soluting an S-58 helicopter.

These nifty little things are assist rockets that help the airplane to become airborn. The plane is a C-130 Hercules.

Brad admires the guns on the B-29 Bomber...aka the Super Fortress.

This is a B-47 Bomber.

This is a McDonald Douglas F-4 Phantom II.

In Vietnam this was called the Goony Bird....aka C47.