Our Journey to See Cold Cotton

Favorite Vacation Moment

North Carolina Mountains, NC

by cbsayne17 March 11, 2008

Jacob Sledding

This is not your typical "Favorite Vacation Moment." It was our familys 1st Christmas vacation away from home and we were taking our 2 kids to see snow for their first time! Excitement and anticipation filled our car with a buzz as we drove to the mountains in North Carolina. We spent an entire week waiting for snow! Our family finally decided we would drive until we found snow because there was no way I was coming back to Florida without our children seeing the "cold cotton" on the ground. We came across a little place outside of Maggie Valley that was covered in this cold cotton, so we pulled our car over and got everyone out and bundled and headed for the little hill that others were riding sleds down. We laughed and laughed and our youngest, Jacob, who was 3 at the time, kept saying "again daddy!" as my husband went down the hill with him. Jacob then decided that he would try this on his own. Thats when the not so favorite vacation moment happened. Our 3 year old son lay in the cold cotton screaming. Jacob had just sled right into the only tree that existed on the little hill, head first. I was at the bottom of the hill with my daughter laughing in hysterics because she and I had just landed in a huge mud puddle and we couldnt get up, when I turned to call for my husbands help and saw a massive crowd around this tree. I finally crawled out of the mud and ran over and as I ran I could hear my babys cry. My husband had him in his arms and I reached for him and he just fell to me. He was unable to walk straight and was begging for sleep and that he was tired. But, I had always heard that with a head injury not to let kids go to sleep, so I talked to him in the van the whole way down the mountain to an emergency walk-in clinic. Due to the injury they were unable to help us and sent us over to the hospital. We made it to the hospital in Sylva and they took us right back. After a cat scan was taken, the emergency room doctor came in and told my husband and I that Jacob had a fractured skull in 2 places and 2 hematomas on the brain and that the next 24 hours were very crucial. He also said that he had already called for an ambulance to come and get us and transport us to a hospital in Ashville, NC that could better assist us. So, off we went to our next destination. After about what felt like a life time, we were finally admitted to the hospital and Jacob was taken to the Pediatric ICU, where would spend the next 4 days. Jacob was very combative and screamed a lot and the doctors and nurses all said it was due to the injury on the brain. He ended up having a total of 13 cat scans over the next 3 days to check and see if the hematomas were shrinking, that would be the key to NOT have to have any surgery done. Then my prayers were answered and Jacob was becoming himself again and the blood flow was finally stopping. We were released to make the journey home and they gave us specific orders that if Jacob were to start to behave in a manner that was questionable or if he started to vomit then we needed to get to the nearest hospital immediately. Well, you guessed it. When we got to Georgia he started vomiting everywhere. There wasnt a hospital around and when we finally made it to a town, we got lost and circled the area a few times before finally finding it. Thankfully, they diagnosed him with severe car sickness because he had been hooked up to so many machines in Ashville, that the driving was just too much. So, we decided to get a hotel for the night and resume our driving the next day. When we crossed the Florida line, I never felt so happy to be home. Jacob wore a helmet that was specifically made for him, over the next 7 months and had many doctor appointments and was finally given the o.k. to stop wearing the helmet! That was the best day for me, to be able to have my almost 4 year old, stop wearing that helmet, but then again, he is the typical 4 year old and I freak out every time he rough plays! But, the reason that is my favorite vacation moment is because, the closeness our family felt during that time and after and the bond we share now, could never be measured by only good things happening. We are all so fortunate to have Jacob in our lives and our family feels truly blessed by the experience. We havent been on vacation since, because that is still so fresh for me. Our family has so much love for each other and our daughter that so badly wanted a sister and would often tell me "take him back and buy me a sister" has so much love for that little boy now and is so protective over him, it is just AWESOME!!!!!!